Hoosier Daddy Pork Tenderloin "Sammich"

For those readers that don't live in Indiana, today's post will be a special treat. There's more than corn in Indiana! We are making a Hoosier Pork Tenderloin Sandwich, or as my dear friend Georgia would say, a "sammich." She's from Illinois, though! Anyway, these are known to we Hoosier's as just "a tenderloin", as if there were no other way to prepare the cut, than pounded and grilled or breaded and fried on a bun!

Let me first say that if you have never had one of these Hoosier delights, you must try this recipe. If you once lived in Indiana, and moved away to the coast, you are in luck; your prayers have been answers; you can be having one of these bad boys for supper tonight!

I must admit I experimented for about a year with different recipes for this sandwich and have found that the one I like the best, I adapted from FoodNetwork.com. It is the closest to the ones I grew up eating at The Knight's of Columbus club with my dad in my hometown, Vincennes, Indiana.

I was thrilled when I was able to share having found a great recipe on a Facebook group for people that grew up in Vincennes. I chuckled at those who had moved out of state and were now at the point of desperation for a taste of home and a good old Hoosier tenderloin sandwich. There were a long trail of comments on a post about who had the best Vincennes tenderloins. Taco Rail, The Manhattan, and Charlie's Burger Barn all got high votes, but The Knights of Columbus, known locally as the "K of C" is the only one of these that is still open. Check out their Yelp review here: http://www.yelp.com/biz/knights-of-columbus-vincennes.

Last night I watched a cool mini documentary, "In Search of the Famous Hoosier Breaded Pork Tenderloin Sandwich" by Jensen Rufe on YouTube. You really should check it out before you start cooking.

The owner of Mug-n-Bun in Indianapolis is featured on this video. His name is Morris. He has an endearing simple man's way of talking with a bit of an..I don't know..Cajun perhaps...accent. I couldn't help but smile when he told of selling up to 1500 of these sandwiches in a day on the weekends.


"In a DAY," he says on the video, "not a week, a day!" 


At $3.80 to $4.40 a pop, you do the math. I think you'll see why they've been in business for over 50 years. There are several places to find them, but I know that I always ate my tenderloins at Mug-n-Bun when I lived in Indy. For the record, onion rings and an icy cold root beer are also a MUST to go with your sandwich at that place.


Located on Indy's west side, it was a favorite "We know this is bad for our diets but..." location for my best friend Scott and me for years. I was also pleased to hear that it is healthy fast food, (she said with a laugh) as Morris says he insists on only cholesterol free grease for his fryers in the video. Mug-n-Bun is first on my list to stop by on my next trip to the circle city. My old plastic cups that come free with a large drink have been worn out.


So, now that you are salivating for the recipe, here it is. I'm not going to use step by step photos on this one, because hopefully you've watched the video and have watched the pro's in action. Plus, I don't have a personal photographer on hand and it is tough to do this process while holding my little Sony Bloggie camera. It can be a bit messy. I promise to show you a picture of mine at the end though. I prefer the breaded tenderloin, so that is what I'll be using in this recipe.

Amy's Hoosier Daddy Breaded Pork Tenderloin Sandwich


You'll need:


Time! You need to let these babies marinate. 4 hours is great, but you need at least a 1/2 hour to get the benefit. Use more than 24 and they will be hard to work with. 

• 1-2 lbs of boneless, cubed pork tenderloin steaks. - Ask your meat guy to run it through the cuber if you don't see the pre-packaged ones. This saves on a lot of pounding, especially if you don't like a huge thin tenderloin. If you can't buy cubed, you'll need to butterfly center cut tenderloin.The FoodNetwork link above gives full instructions for this.
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups of buttermilk. - Try to find WHOLE buttermilk. I've used low fat in a pinch, but the whole does produce better results.
• 2 cloves of garlic, crushed or 1 teaspoon of garlic powder.
• 1-2 teaspoons of kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. - This is not per piece, you'll be sprinkling each. Don't go overboard.
• 1 dash of cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 2-3 cups of  bag oyster soup crackers. ( about 2/3 of a 16 oz. bag)
• 2 cups of all purpose white flour. 
• Crisco Pure Vegetable shortening for frying. - You can substitute vegetable oil, canola oil, or peanut oil. You can even use lard if you have arteries of steel.
• Hamburger buns- I'm a BIG fan of Bunny Bread Restaurant Style Buns since they are made at Lewis Bakeries, in Vincennes.
• Toppings of choice- I like mine loaded! Lettuce, Red Onion, Ketchup, Mustard, Mayo, and Pickle. I even like a slice of American cheese if I have it!

Now gather your tools:

• 1 large glass container
• Wire Whisk
• Mixing Bowl
• Plastic wrap
• 2 shallow bowls - You'll want something large enough for your pounded tenderloin to fit easily in to for dipping. 
• 1 deep fryer - If you are like me, and don't have a deep fryer, use a large, deep, heavy frying pan. I love my Calphalon cookware and would have to recommend it first, but people have been using a good old iron skillet for years, too!
• 1 set of cooking tongs
• 1 heavy kitchen tenderizing mallet
• 1 cookie sheet lined with paper towel and a cooling wrack placed on top

OK. Let's do it!

Step One: Make your marinade.

This is where you will whisk the eggs and buttermilk with the garlic, cayenne, and paprika.  Set this aside for the next step.

Step Two: Decide how thin you like your tenderloin.

In some areas of Indiana, the bigger the tenderloin, the better. I've found this to be particularly in the southern part of Indiana. Some folks judge the quality of the sandwich by how far the tenderloin sticks off the edge of the bun. You'll see the word GIANT in front of many tenderloin menus in Indiana.My husband is from the Muncie area originally, and this practice annoys him. He likes to be able to taste the pork.

If you like them thin, like me, then place the cubed tenderloin piece between two pieces of plastic wrap after rinsing the meat and putting a sprinkle of salt and pepper on each side. Grab your mallet and beat out your day's aggression. Go big or stay home. Get that baby down to about 1/4 of an inch thick.If you are like my husband, just leave the cubed steak alone. You'll have a nice thick piece of meat. You will need to be careful to cook these a little longer though. 

Step Three: Marinate!

Place your pounded (or not) tenderloin into your large glass container. I use a 9 x 13 baking dish. Pour your buttermilk mixture over the top, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes to 24 hours.

Step Four: Prepare your breading!

You will need to crush up your crackers to very fine crumbs. I use my food processor, which is why I like to use the small soup crackers over Saltines, because I can just pour them in gradually. If you don't have a food processor, just pour them in to a zip baggie and use a rolling pin to crunch them up as fine as possible. Pour your crumbs into one shallow bowl and your flour in to the other shallow dipping container. 

Step Five : Heat your oil! 

If you are using a skillet, use 1 to 1 1/2 cups of Crisco shortening or fill oil to about 1/2 way up the side of your pan. If you are using a deep fryer, follow the manufacturer's instructions. You'll ultimately want your temperature to be at 350 to 360 degrees Fahrenheit.

Step Six: Get to dippin'!

Use tongs for this as much as you can. It's much easier to stop in between and rinse those off than your fingers. Trust me on this. If you have two set of tongs, bonus. You can use one set for dipping and another for the frying.

Take each piece of meat carefully out of the buttermilk mixture and place flat in your shallow bowl of flour, and cover patting both sides. Then re-dip in to your buttermilk and then into the cracker crumbs. Cover again by using your hands or tongs to make sure the tenderloin is covered completely in the cracker mixture.

Step Seven : Fry them up!

Place each piece of tenderloin into your 360 degree oil/shortening and fry until a nice golden brown on each side. When finished place on your cooling rack so the excess shortening can drain off to the paper towel.

Now you're ready to bun it, dress it, and plate it. But most of all, ENJOY IT. Let me know how it turns out.