Tenderloin at 78 degrees: Stir-fry

The leanest pork primal — colour should stay light pink with almost no intramuscular fat required. A slim muscle tucked under the spine that does almost nothing for a living. It is the most tender thing on the animal and also the least forgiving: with barely any fat, the window between juicy and sawdust is only a few degrees wide.

Ask for the silverskin removed, or take it off yourself: it shrinks in the pan and curls the whole muscle. Colour, sinew, where the fat sits, and thickness are what you check before you pay. Ask for the thickness that matches “Stir-fry.” Use 78 degrees and 78 when you cook. Salt after you know the job. Do not play with undercooked meat.

At the counter, read the use on Tenderloin before the photograph. 78 degrees is the internal heat, “Stir-fry” is the dish, and 78 is the stage of the fire. Marbling alone does not split stew from grill. Sear hard, finish gently, and pull it a couple of degrees below target — a piece this thin keeps climbing off the heat.