- 5 peppercorns
- 2 star anise
- 4 cloves
- 110ml/4fl oz white wine vinegar
- 125g/4½oz caster sugar
- 2 English Cox’s apples
- 1 lemon, juice only
- 1 Bramley apple, peeled and diced
- 2 pork tenderloins
- 75g/3oz plain flour
- 3 free-range eggs, lightly beaten
- 125g/4½oz Japanese panko breadcrumbs
- vegetable oil and butter, for frying
- 4 free-range duck eggs
- 50g/2oz butter
- 4 sticks celery, peeled and sliced
- celery leaves for garnish
- Put the peppercorns, star anise and cloves into a small, sealed muslin bag.
- Place the vinegar, 100g/3½oz of the sugar and the muslin bag in a saucepan and bring to the boil.
- Remove from the heat and leave to cool.
- With a small melon baller, shape the Cox’s apples into balls and add them to the vinegar mixture. Set aside for at least ten minutes for the apples to absorb the vinegar.
- Bring 100ml/3½fl oz of water, the remaining caster sugar and the lemon juice to the boil in a saucepan.
- Add the Bramley apple dice and cook until soft. Remove from the heat, cool slightly, then blend with a hand-blender and pass through a sieve into a clean saucepan.
- Cut the pork tenderloins in half and place between two sheets of cling film. Using a meat mallet or rolling pin bash to about 1cm/½in thick. Remove the cling film.
- Tip the flour, eggs and breadcrumbs into separate shallow dishes. Place the pork slices in the flour, then the egg and then the breadcrumbs, tossing to coat thoroughly.
- Heat a non-stick frying pan until hot, add a little oil and butter and fry the pork on each side until golden-brown and just cooked through.
- In a separate frying pan, heat a little oil and butter and fry the duck eggs, season with salt and freshly ground black pepper and place on top of the pork.
- Bring the butter and 200ml/7fl oz of water to the boil in a small saucepan, season with salt and freshly ground black pepper and add the sliced celery. Cook until the celery just loses its bite. Drain well.
- To serve, re-heat the apple purée, if necessary, and serve the pork with the apple purée, pickled apple and celery, and garnish with celery leaves.