This post is sponsored by FoodSaver®, however, all thoughts and opinions are my own.
Whenever I want to really take the stress out of making dinner, I turn to sous vide. That may seem strange to you if sous vide cooking is a culinary technique that you’re not very familiar with, but when you can prepare dinner very early on in the day and you take all the necessary precautions to ensure success, any stress you might have about preparing dinner just vanishes.
Sous vide cooking is when you place food in a vacuum-sealed bag and submerge that bag completely in a water bath which is held at a very precise temperature for a prescribed period of time – usually a temperature much lower and a time much longer than you think. When you cook food at a very precise temperature, you end up with really precise results and the food really cannot over-cook. When the food cooks at a lower temperature and a little more slowly than on a stovetop or in the oven, you have more flexibility on timing and can relax a little, knowing that you won’t make a last minute mistake. With meats cooked sous vide you can expect perfect, juicy, tender and flavorful results. See? You really can take the stress out of making dinner.
The only precautions you really have to take to ensure success with sous vide is 1) make sure you leave enough time to cook the food properly and 2) make sure the food is properly sealed in a bag and that all the air has been removed so that the bag sinks completely in the water bath. The first precaution is relatively easy to manage – just plan ahead. The second precaution of making sure the bag of food is sealed properly and that the air has been removed can be achieved if you use the right sous vide bag and the best technique for removing air from that bag. FoodSaver® Bags really do take away any worry you might have about the bags and vacuum sealing because they are BPA-free and can handle the temperature of sous vide water baths, they seal effectively and are air-tight. An air-tight bag is so important for sous vide cooking because it creates better heat transmission from the water to the food and gives you more even and consistent results. If you’re using the right sous vide bag and vacuum sealing with a FoodSaver® Preservation System, you can put your mind at ease and just enjoy the process. Plus, because of their high quality, you can wash and re-use your FoodSaver® Bags thereby creating less waste.
This recipe for Korean BBQ Pork Loin uses one of my favorite ingredients – Gochujang. It’s a Korean BBQ chili paste that has become quite popular lately and can be found at many grocery stores or specialty Asian markets. All the other ingredients for the marinade as well as for the Korean BBQ sauce are very common and can be found at every grocery store.
Vacuum-sealing the pork along with the marinade in a FoodSaver® bag helps to infuse all those flavors into the pork and lets the pork and the marinade flavors really fuse together over time. It’s also extremely tidy and easy to work with all the ingredients together in a bag and I value tidiness in the kitchen next to… well, you know where I’m going. You can even freeze the pork with the marinade at this stage and cook it later – just add another 90 minutes to the cooking time. The FoodSaver® Bag can go directly from the freezer to the sous vide water bath without any trouble.
Once you’ve let the pork sink in the water bath, you now have 4 to 6 hours to wait… or do whatever it is you do. The only recipe requirement in that time is to make the BBQ sauce, which is super easy to put together by sautéing a little onion, garlic and ginger, adding the rest of the ingredients and simmering for 20 minutes or so.
The final step in this recipe just requires a quick broil on all sides of the perfectly-cooked pork loin with some of the delicious spicy-sweet BBQ sauce brushed on. Just remember to only broil for a couple of minutes per side so that you don’t overcook the pork that you’ve prepared so perfectly.
All you’ll have left to do is slice and serve. This pork is delicious with some white rice, a quick-sautéed green vegetable (like bok choy) and garnished with a few chopped scallions. Easy, stress free and delicious!
Made this tonight but used a pork tenderloin (had one in the freezer) and OMG it turned out so delicious!! The pork was so tender and delicious and the BBQ sauce!!! I ate way more than I should have 😂 thanks for the awesome recipe!
We also made this with a tenderloin. There’s nothing better than a tenderloin in the sous vide, but with this bbq sauce, it’s heaven. It was so tasty that even the kids had seconds. I am keeping this and adding it to our rotation.
How long did you sous vide your piece of meat? Recipe says 4-6 – what did you do?
Hi Molly. To be honest, I can’t remember the exact sous vide time I used when I took that photograph, but it really doesn’t matter too much. When you cook sous vide, the food cooks to a certain temperature and doesn’t go over that temperature, so you can’t over-cook the meat. What can change with more time in a sous vide bath is texture of the meat, but 4 to 6 hours for this pork loin recipe will give you pork that is cooked through, tender and juicy. If you’d like to read more about how sous vide cooking works, check out my article on Sous Vide 101 here: https://bluejeanchef.com/cooking-school/sous-vide-101/
Thanks so much! Really appreciate it. I’m new-ish to the sous vide world. Excited to be trying this!
I’m not a huge fan of ginger, is it a strong ginger taste? Do you think
It would still be good if I omitted it?
If you don’t like ginger, just leave it out. It will still be tasty.
Ok-so-my 20 year old son is not a fan of pork so I made this with boneless skinless chicken breast. Used 4, close to 4 lbs. I let them marinade in the first sauce since the cook time is shorter. Grilled on bbq after just over an hour In sous vide at 146 degrees. Basted with the sauce and WOW!!! Absolutely fantastic flavors-will be doubling the sauce for next time😊
This was delicious. Did two smaller loins in one bag and this portion was still plenty of marinade. Was so tender and flavorful. I will make again and again. Don’t change anything on marinade. I did cook at 131 for 3.5 hours and seared at the end. Was prefect medium/medium rare. Sauce was a little oily but still soo good. Served with shishito peppers and cauliflower rice.
This was amazing! My husband actually called the pork “perfect”!
How spicy is this? My kids don’t love spicy
Hi Matt. I wouldn’t say it’s too spicy. The flavor permeates the outside of the pork, so you get good flavor, but you’re not going to be reaching for a glass of water.
Loved it. I used a pork loin roast & this was my first time using my sous vide. I also did the marinade the night before. I cooked for 5 hours & they loved it, Tender, juice & flavorful. This one’s a keeper. My daughter asked if you can cook it some other way,, like crock pot or oven.. Thank you. I
Can you just marinade this like a regular recipe? i don’t have one of those machines.
You can use this recipe to marinade the pork overnight. Then either roast the pork in an 350°F oven for about 60 minutes or cook over medium-low heat on the grill.
Hello when roasting this at 350 for 60 minutes in lieu of sous vide, would you roast it covered or uncovered? Thanks!
I would roast it uncovered. Marinate the pork first, then roast uncovered, basting with the sauce a few times for the last 20 minutes. Roast until the internal temperature reaches 145˚F and let it rest, covered with foil.
Excellent recipe. I will definitely make this again!
Family Fave…double the b-b-que sauce as it makes everything taste better. Even my spice-picky family members rave about this dish. I make an asian slaw and an asian aioli with some avocado for pork tacos…YUM!
Tender and oh so delicious! I’m going to try this marinade & sauce on chicken; especially on thighs.
How long for pork tenderloin?
You can sous vide a pork tenderloin at 145°F for 1 1/2 to 4 hours. Meredith has a Sous Vide Cooking Chart, with times and temperatures for all types of food, that you can refer to at any time. https://bluejeanchef.com/cooking-school/sous-vide-cooking-charts/
Made it tonight. Very good! Cooked perfectly- moist and tender! Cooked it for 4.5 hrs (3lbs) The sauce…delicious. Will make again!
I don’t have a Sous vide, but have an aircraft fryer and a instant pot. Is there a way to make this Korean roast pork in either of these appliances? Thanks
Hi Adele. You could marinate the loin as directed and then air fry the loin at 360˚F for about 50 to 60 minutes. Check the internal temperature – it should register 145˚ to 150˚F – and add time if needed. Rotate the loin as it cooks and baste with the BBQ sauce.
Sounds amazing I wan to make it👏🏻👏🏻 just one question how do you do so the marinade don’t scape when you seal it?
Meredith has a whole section on Sous Vide Cooking in her online Cooking School. You can use the countertop method to seal a bag with liquid in it. Check out the lesson on sealing techniques for more info: https://bluejeanchef.com/cooking-school/bag-sealing-techniques/ . You can also watch the video on Sous Vide 101 for more great tips.
How do you vacuum seal with the liquid in bag? As mine draws the air out it draws the liquid also and then won’t seal.
Hi Jenice,
There are a couple of techniques you can use – the countertop method or the water displacement method. I explain both of these in my article here: https://bluejeanchef.com/cooking-school/bag-sealing-techniques/ . This should solve the problem for you.
ML
I loved every bite of this dish!!! I will definitely make it again. The spice was oh so nice and the heat was easy to handle. Thank you, Meredith!!
I did this today but with pork tenderloin. It was really good. Thank you very much.
I’m new to cooking with the sous vide technique. I made this recipe today and it was absolutely delicious! I’ll definitely make it again…and again. The recipe is easy to follow and worth the effort. I’m looking forward to having leftovers for lunch tomorrow!
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Did this with two tenderloins, but followed Kenji Lopez-Alt’s time and temp guidance and went 4 hrs at 135F for a medium/medium-rare doneness (it’s safe at that temp since it’s pasteurized by the time it’s done). Also added some of the cooking liquid to the BBQ sauce and whizzed it up with a stick blender so I could dispense it with a squirt bottle. Awesome awesome awesome.