Sticky tamarind roast pork

Preheat oven to 160°C. Combine glaze ingredients in a saucepan, bring to the boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 3-5 minutes. Reserve 1/3 cup glaze for gravy and about 3 Tbsp for dumplings, if planning to use leftovers in pork dumpling soup.

Place a roasting pan on the stovetop, add the oil and when hot quickly brown the meat lightly on all sides until just golden, then brush the meat liberally with glaze. Roast in preheated oven, allowing 45 minutes per 500g, or if you have a meat thermometer it should read 71°C when the meat is cooked to medium. Remove from oven and leave to rest for 15 minutes before slicing.

To make the gravy, put stock and tamarind glaze in a saucepan over medium heat and heat until bubbling. Season with a pinch of salt and 2-3 tsp sugar, according to taste. Mix cornflour with 1 Tbsp cold water and stir into hot gravy. Heat, stirring, until thickened. Slice pork and serve with the gravy.

Cook's tip Pork loin, like most premium cuts is expensive, but there's no waste. It also looks special when served whole at the table and it slices beautifully. If you're likely to have leftovers, reserve 3 Tbsp of the glaze to make pork dumpling soup (see following recipe). As the weight of the pork is unlikely to be exactly 2kg, calculate the cooking time before you begin, allowing 45 minutes per 500g plus 15 minutes resting time.

Article from the June, 2012 issue of Taste magazine .