Teriyaki Pork and Pineapple Skewers

Just a heads up - this recipe is best when the pork can marinate for about 2 hours. Trust me - it will be worth it!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup mirin (sweet rice wine - I found at Whole Foods in the international aisle)

1/2 cup sake (also found at Whole Foods)

1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce, plus 2 tbsp

1 lb pork tenderloin, trimmed and cut into 24 pieces

1 medium red onion, cut into 1-inch pieces

24 cubes pineapple (I used one half of a pineapple)

2 tbsp corn starch

To make the marinade, combine the mirin, sake, and 1/4 cup soy sauce in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Continue to cook for about 10 minutes, or until reduced to about 2/3 to 1 cup. Remove from heat and let cool completely.

Place cubed pork into a bowl. Pour cooled marinade over top of the meat. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator for 2 hours.

 

Once meat has marinated for 2 hours, preheat grill to medium high heat. If you're going to be using wooden skewers, don't forget to soak them in water before using. Thread pieces of pork, pineapple, and onion on your skewers. Make sure you save the leftover marinade - it will become the sauce.

Grill the skewers over medium high heat until the meat is cooked throughout. (As luck would have it, it was raining when I made this recipe, so I actually ended up baking them on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray...hence the lack of grill pictures)

Now for the leftover marinade. While the skewers are cooking, pour the remaining marinade back into your sauce pan over medium-high heat. In a small bowl, whisk 2 tbsp corn starch into 2 tbsp soy sauce. Stir into marinade. Continue to heat and stir until the marinade turns into a thick glaze.

Serve pork, pineapple, and onion on or off the skewers, topped with leftover marinade glaze.

Source: Adapted from a Cooking Light recipe