Name: Teriyaki pork tenderloin with cucumber salad
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 30 min
Yield: 6
Ingredients: ½ cup Low-sodium soy sauce; ¾ cup Water, plus a splash if needed to adjust the finished glaze; ⅓ cup Packed brown sugar; 2 Tbsp Honey; 2 Tbsp Unseasoned rice vinegar, plus more to taste; 1 Tbsp Finely minced fresh garlic; 2 tsp Finely minced fresh ginger; 1 Tbsp Toasted sesame oil; 3 lb total Pork tenderloins, silverskin trimmed; buy by total weight; About 1 cup Homemade teriyaki base, above, or Trader Joe's Soyaki or Kikkoman teriyaki marinade; 1 Tbsp to start, plus more to taste Brown sugar or honey, only if using Kikkoman marinade; 1 Tbsp Neutral oil; About 1 cup Homemade teriyaki base, reserved before marinating; 2 tsp Cornstarch; 1 Tbsp Ice-cold water, measured without ice, for the slurry; 1½ tsp Toasted sesame seeds; 2 tsp Thinly sliced green onion, plus more for serving; 2 large, about 1½ lb English cucumbers, thinly sliced; 1 tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt, or ½ tsp Morton, for draining; ½ cup Unseasoned rice vinegar; ¼ cup Sugar; 2 Tbsp Low-sodium soy sauce; 1½ Tbsp Toasted sesame oil; 1½ Tbsp Finely minced garlic; A pinch Red chili flakes, optional, plus more to taste; To taste Salt, after dressing; 1½ cups Jasmine rice, rinsed and well drained; 1½ cups Chicken broth, for the pressure-cooker method; 1 tsp Toasted sesame oil, plus more to taste; 1 tsp Unseasoned rice vinegar, plus more to taste

Teriyaki pork tenderloin with cucumber salad

Grilled or oven-roasted pork tenderloin tossed in a glossy ginger-garlic teriyaki glaze, with sesame rice and a crisp cucumber salad.

Published Sep 17, 2026

Servings

Total time

About 1 hour 15 minutes oven-roasted, or 1 hour 30 minutes reverse-seared, plus 2 to 12 hours marinating

Don't skip the cucumber salad

The kids crushed this teriyaki pork. The sauce has fresh ginger, garlic and that glossy finish that coats every piece. But my favorite part of the plate is the cucumber salad. Cold, crisp cucumbers with rice vinegar and sesame oil taste so good next to the warm pork.

I leave chili flakes out of the school salad. At home, I like a little pinch in mine. Keep some on hand and add as much as you like.

The rice gets a finish too. A little toasted sesame oil, a touch of rice vinegar, then a taste for salt. You want the sesame to come through without taking over.

A spoon for the ginger

Use the edge of a regular kitchen spoon to scrape the skin off the ginger. Roughly chop it, then put it in a mini food processor with the garlic. A few pulses give you a fine chop without much work.

And learn from my cornstarch slurry. Mine wasn't thickening the sauce the way I wanted. I made the slurry really cold with an ice cube, whisked it into the hot sauce and finally got that sheen I was looking for. Start with cold water and mix it smooth before it goes in. Then let the sauce bubble briefly so the starch can thicken it.

For a quick marinade, I like Trader Joe's Soyaki. Kikkoman's teriyaki marinade works well too, but you need to build the sweetness back up with that one. Add a little brown sugar or honey and taste before the pork goes in.

Instructions

Homemade teriyaki base

Makes about 2 cups. Use half for marinating and reserve half for the finishing glaze. If using a bottled marinade for the pork, make half of this batch, about 1 cup, and keep all of it for the glaze.

Peel the ginger with the edge of a kitchen spoon. Roughly chop it and the garlic, then pulse in a mini food processor or mince finely by hand. Measure the amounts listed above. Whisk the soy sauce, water, brown sugar and honey until the sugar dissolves. Stir in the vinegar, garlic, ginger and sesame oil. Leave out the cornstarch at this stage.
Stir well and divide evenly between two containers, about 1 cup in each. Cover and refrigerate one half for the finishing glaze before adding any raw pork to the marinade half. If you made a half batch because you're using bottled marinade, reserve all of it for the glaze.

Pork and marinade

Choose about 1 cup homemade teriyaki base or bottled marinade. For a quick option, use Trader Joe's Soyaki. Kikkoman teriyaki marinade works too; stir in 1 Tbsp brown sugar or honey per cup to start, then taste and add more until the sweetness is where you like it. Make these adjustments before adding raw pork. Turn the pork through the marinade in a covered dish or zip-top bag. Refrigerate for 2 to 12 hours, turning once if convenient.
Lift out the pork, discard the used marinade and pat the surface dry. Rub with the oil. Choose one of the cooking methods below.

Oven method

Heat the oven to 425°F conventional or 400°F convection. Arrange the pork on a rimmed sheet pan with space between the pieces.
Roast for about 20 to 30 minutes, starting checks at 18 minutes. Each tenderloin should reach 145°F in its thickest part before leaving the oven. Remove smaller pieces as they finish.
Rest for 10 minutes, then cut into roughly ¾-inch pieces. Toss with about ½ cup of warm glaze, adding a little more if needed. Serve the remaining glaze at the table.

Grill method: reverse sear

Heat the oven to 250°F. Set an oven-safe wire rack over a rimmed sheet pan and arrange the prepared pork on the rack. Cook until the thickest part reaches about 110°F, roughly 30 to 45 minutes. Start checking at 20 minutes; thickness matters more than the clock.
While the pork cooks, preheat the grill to high, about 450 to 500°F, leaving a cooler area available. Clean and lightly oil the grates so the grill is ready when the pork reaches 110°F.
Transfer the pork straight to the hot grill. Sear, turning every 1 to 2 minutes, until browned on all sides and the thickest part of each tenderloin reaches 145°F before removal. Allow roughly 5 to 10 minutes. If the outside browns before the center is ready, move it to the cooler area and close the lid to finish gently.
Rest for 10 minutes before slicing. Toss the sliced pork with about ½ cup of warm teriyaki glaze and pass the rest at the table.

Ginger-garlic teriyaki glaze

Makes about 1 cup, using the reserved half of the base.

Pour the reserved half of the homemade base into a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring. Use the portion kept separate from the raw pork; discard the used marinade.
In a small cup, stir the cornstarch into the ice-cold water until smooth. Stir it again immediately before using, then pour it into the hot sauce while whisking. Bring to a gentle boil for about 1 minute, stirring, until glossy and able to coat a spoon.
Take off the heat and stir in the sesame seeds and green onion. Taste. Add a little more rice vinegar if it needs brightness, or a splash of water if it's too thick or salty. Toss with the rested pork just before serving.

Asian cucumber salad

Toss the cucumbers with the measured salt in a colander and leave for 20 minutes while you make the rice and pork. Drain well and pat lightly with a towel.
Whisk the rice vinegar, sugar, soy sauce, sesame oil and garlic until the sugar dissolves. Toss with the cucumbers. Add a pinch of chili flakes if you like heat, then taste before adding any more salt. Serve with a slotted spoon.

Sesame rice

Put the rice and broth in a 6-quart electric pressure cooker. Cook for 3 minutes at high pressure with Keep Warm off, then let the pressure release naturally. Allow about 25 to 35 minutes total for heating, cooking and release.
Fluff the rice. Fold in the sesame oil and vinegar, then taste for salt. Add a few drops more sesame oil or vinegar if needed.

Teriyaki pork tenderloin with cucumber salad

Don't skip the cucumber salad

At home, I take it to the grill

A spoon for the ginger