Pictorial: Pan-Fried Pork Chop

[hzrt8w]

Pan-Fried Pork Chop (香蔥豬排)

This dish is very easy to make at home. The best is to marinate the pork chops overnight in the refrigerator. Cooking time is only about 15 minutes.

Picture of the finished dish:

Serving Suggestion: 2 to 3

Preparations:

Main ingredients: (From top, clockwise)

- 5 pieces of pork chops, about 1 1/2 lb

- 4 cloves of garlic

- 3 to 4 shallots

Peel and finely chop the garlic and shallots.

(Not shown): Use a fork to jab on the pork chops to create tiny holes. It will help the marinade to be soaked into the meat.

Marinate the pork chop in the mixing bowl with:

- minced garlic (4 cloves)

- minced shallots (3 to 4)

- 1/4 tsp of salt (or to taste)

- 1 tsp of ground black bepper

- 2 tsp of ShaoHsing cooking wine

- 2 tsp of light soy sauce

- 1 tsp of sesame oil

Mix well and let it marinate in the refrigerator overnight.

Cooking Instructions:

Use a pan/wok, set stove at medium, add 3 to 4 tblsp of cooking oil. Lay the pork chop flat on the pan surface. Fry for about 4 to 5 minute. Peel and thinly slice another 2 to 3 shallots.

Turn the pork chops. Add the thinly sliced shallots to the pan. At medium heat, fry the pork chops for another 4 minutes.

If there is any watery liquid from the pork chop, drain it with a spoon. Turn the pork chop once again. Add 1 tblsp of cooking oil. Set the stove at high. Fry for another 3 minutes to brown the surface. Turn the pork chop one last time and fry for another 2 minutes or so. At the end, dash in 2 tsp of ShaoHsing cooking wine and 1 tsp of light soy sauce. Finished.

Picture of the finished dish.

[Anna N]

Looks lovely! I have given up cooking pork chops as they always turn out dry and tough - the pork is too, too lean. But I might give them another chance after seeing this dish! Thanks for all your hard work sharing these dishes with us.

[Dejah]

Looks lovely!  I have given up cooking pork chops as they always turn out dry and tough - the pork is too, too lean.  But I might give them another chance after seeing this dish!  Thanks for all your hard work sharing these dishes with us.

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Anna: Try pork butt steaks if you like pork with some fat. These stay moist and tender...or you can coat the meat with bread crumbs before frying. This process helps to keep the moisture in the meat.

The bones would be my favourite part.

[stephenc]

classic, classic home cooking recipe.

This one goes in along with eggs and tomatoes as a homecooking staple.

The only thing I'd add is to whack it good with a tenderizing hammer or cross-hatch it with the back of the knife to make it nice and thin, if you like it that way.

Edited January 8, 2006 by stephenc (log)

[rjwong]

Another great dish, Ah Leung!

Now I can hear my non-Chinese friends asking me,

"Where's the sauce?"

What sauce?

You know. All those great Chinese dishes come with that ... SAUCE!

Is there a sauce or pan gravy or jup that you make from the pan drippings?

[stuart_s]

Looks lovely!  I have given up cooking pork chops as they always turn out dry and tough - the pork is too, too lean.  But I might give them another chance after seeing this dish!  Thanks for all your hard work sharing these dishes with us.

←

Anna: Try pork butt steaks if you like pork with some fat. These stay moist and tender...or you can coat the meat with bread crumbs before frying. This process helps to keep the moisture in the meat.

The bones would be my favourite part.

←

At one of my local farmers market there's a vendor with heritage breeds of pork. Specifically, I think it's Berkshire. This pork is certainly not lean or at risk of being tough and dry. There's likely to be something similar available near you. Local Harvest sells heritage pork online if you're willing to pay a lot for shipping and buy in quantity. Heritage Foods USA seems a little more flexible and seems to have a wider selection.

It's possible to make a tasty chop with modern pork, too. I just had a delicious Vietnames pork chop at a local restaurant and it was moist and tasty. But I made some of the Berkshire chops a while ago and they were bursting with juice.

[prasantrin]

Is there a sauce or pan gravy or jup that you make from the pan drippings?

←

My dad used to make something like this a lot (he was Thai, not Chinese, though), with pork chops or spareribs. And when I was a child, I would scrape out the bits of fond from the bottom of the pan, along with a bit of the oil, and eat it with my rice. Now that's a sauce!

Sometimes I think about making it just so I can do that again.

[hzrt8w]

Is there a sauce or pan gravy or jup that you make from the pan drippings?

←

The pork chops are already fully flavored.

For those of you who like to "lick the pan", or need to conform with the French cooking technique of "deglazing the pan"... Here is a suggestion:

After removing the pork chops from the pan, dash in 2 tsp of ShaoHsing cooking wine, shed a bit of ground black pepper, and 1/4 to 1/2 cup of chicken broth. Add 1 tsp of dark soy sauce. (Optional: 1 tsp of sugar.) Bring to a boil. Constantly scrap the pan where the shallot/garlic are stuck. Then add some corn starch slurry (suggest 2 tsp corn starch with 2 tsp of water) to thicken the sauce to the right consistency. Pour the sauce on top of the pork chop. Spread on about 1 stalk of chopped green onions on top. Voila!

[Anna N]

Looks lovely!  I have given up cooking pork chops as they always turn out dry and tough - the pork is too, too lean.  But I might give them another chance after seeing this dish!  Thanks for all your hard work sharing these dishes with us.

←

Anna: Try pork butt steaks if you like pork with some fat. These stay moist and tender...or you can coat the meat with bread crumbs before frying. This process helps to keep the moisture in the meat.

The bones would be my favourite part.

←

Thanks. I have used them but we used to get lovely pork and our favourite way was thick chops on the grill. Now, I still enjoy pork in many ways but not loin or rib chops.

[Anna N]

At one of my local farmers market there's a vendor with heritage breeds of pork.  Specifically, I think it's Berkshire. This pork is certainly not lean or at risk of being tough and dry. There's likely to be something similar available near you. Local Harvest sells heritage pork online if you're willing to pay a lot for shipping and buy in quantity. Heritage Foods USA seems a little more flexible and seems to have a wider selection.

It's possible to make a tasty chop with modern pork, too. I just had a delicious Vietnames pork chop at a local restaurant and it was moist and tasty. But I made some of the Berkshire chops a while ago and they were bursting with juice.

←

Thanks for the suggestions. Cost is a concern as is transportation. Occasionally I get a trip to the St. Lawrence Market in Toronto and will investigate if heritage pork is available in small quantities on my next trip in early February.

[Ben Hong]

Contrary to popular myth, you can get a juicy chop from lean "modern" supermarket pork. The secret is in the cooking. Using highest heat, sear both sides, turn down to medium and finish cooking both sides, but, only to medium doneness. Most people still have that phobia against eating "pinkish" pork. Modern supermarket pork is safe from parasites such as trichina, tapeworms and other nematodes. I can't say the same for true organic(!!) "free range" down-in-the-dirt pigs though.

Edited January 9, 2006 by Ben Hong (log)

[I_call_the_duck]

Thanks for a great pictorial, Ah Leung. So delicious, yet so simple.

[jkonick]

I just made this today because I had some extra pork chops that I needed to use up - man, it was really, really good! I tried Ben Hong's suggestion for cooking them, and I they turned out really juicy, despite the fact that I was using regular old supermarket pork. I also added a little extra cooking wine and soy sauce at the end and used it to deglaze the pan for a pretty good "sauce." Mmm. Thanks for the wonderful recipe!

[wesza]

Ah Leung:

Hope you will do your version of:

Capitol Pork Chops (Kup Dai Pi Quat ?)

It seems different at almost every place that serves the dish. Only thing consistant is "Thin Sliced Pork Chops" but it's generally tasty and add's flavor to the rice.

Irwin

[hzrt8w]

Ah Leung:

Hope you will do your version of:

Capitol Pork Chops  (Kup Dai Pi Quat ?)

←

Sorry Irwin. This is the first time I've heard of this term (both in Chinese and English). What is it like?

[wesza]

Ah Leung:

Hope you will do your version of:

Capitol Pork Chops  (Kup Dai Pi Quat ?)

←

Sorry Irwin. This is the first time I've heard of this term (both in Chinese and English). What is it like?

←

I'm not sure about the Chinese name but on menus in the English section in Hong Kong, Seattle and Hawaii it called "Capitol Pork Chops".

They are quick fried with a light coating, seared, served together with slightly spicy, dash of vinegar, wine, sliced onions, superior both, corn starch thickened sauce on a platter with several dried chili's.

In Seattle my favorite place for this dish is "Hing Loong" in the International District.

[Dejah]

Ah Leung:

Hope you will do your version of:

Capitol Pork Chops  (Kup Dai Pi Quat ?)

←

Sorry Irwin. This is the first time I've heard of this term (both in Chinese and English). What is it like?

←

I'm not sure about the Chinese name but on menus in the English section in Hong Kong, Seattle and Hawaii it called "Capitol Pork Chops".

They are quick fried with a light coating, seared, served together with slightly spicy, dash of vinegar, wine, sliced onions, superior both, corn starch thickened sauce on a platter with several dried chili's.

In Seattle my favorite place for this dish is "Hing Loong" in the International District.

←

This sounds like a mixture of our Canton Pork Chop and Toisan Pork Chop.

The Canton version is much as you described, Irwin, but without the chilis. Our Toisan version was concocted by our chef using worchestershire sauce, broth, etc. Again there were no chilis nor sliced onions, but the sauce had a bit of a kick.

But "pi quat" actually means sparerib...so I wonder why they call it pork chop?

[Tepee]

When we were young, mom made this with both pai guat (spareribs) and pa (chops). Adults who liked to chew at the sweetness of the bones will go for the pai guat and kids get the pa. How thoughtful that was.

[rjwong]

But "pi quat" actually means sparerib...so I wonder why they call it pork chop?

←

Doesn't "Dai Pi Quat" mean big spareribs? Not a huge stretch from pork chops, ehh?

[hzrt8w]

I'm not sure about the Chinese name but on menus in the English section in Hong Kong, Seattle and Hawaii it called "Capitol Pork Chops".

←

It sounds like this is what Cantonese called "Gang Do Pai Quat" 京都排骨. "Gang Do" is the direct translation of "capitol".

The sauce is typically dark brown or dark orange in color. It tastes sweet and sour. And yes I did taste a trace of Worchestershire sauce in it.

I did this style once. I was not very successful at it but I had jotted down some notes.

Though the name is "Pai Quat" (spareribs), restaurants typically use pork chops to make this dish.

[wesza]

I'm not sure about the Chinese name but on menus in the English section in Hong Kong, Seattle and Hawaii it called "Capitol Pork Chops".

←

It sounds like this is what Cantonese called "Gang Do Pai Quat" 京都排骨. "Gang Do" is the direct translation of "capitol".

The sauce is typically dark brown or dark orange in color. It tastes sweet and sour. And yes I did taste a trace of Worchestershire sauce in it.

I did this style once. I was not very successful at it but I had jotted down some notes.

Though the name is "Pai Quat" (spareribs), restaurants typically use pork chops to make this dish.

←

I had a friend bring me a take out order of the dish today. After actually taking the time to look at the slices I realized that they were all chops with the top half removed before being sliced probably to use in various types of dishes calling for boneless pork. It could be called spare ribs since it seems to be always cut from the rib section.

There were lots of slices all bone-in and it tasted as good as always but it's a smart way to make everyone happy in a profitable manner. I enjoy eating the meat close to the bones and the portion is generous considering the price of $7.95 for 11 thin slices.

Irwin

[Dejah]

I had a friend bring me a take out order of the dish today. Irwin

Tsk! Tsk! Irwin. You didn't take pictures?!

You MUST get with the digital technology!

[wesza]

I had a friend bring me a take out order of the dish today. Irwin

Tsk! Tsk! Irwin. You didn't take pictures?!

You MUST get with the digital technology!

←

Dejah:

"Digital Technology" is way more advanced then I am ready to consider. I haven't gotten any further then my attempt to take photos of my daughter sleeping with a "35 mm SLR" that when developed were only of her ear when sleeping. That was 40 years ago.

I type slowly with one finger on my computer, do reasonably good searching but still have not progressed enough to have learned how to "Cut & Paste" even though my new keyboard has on it's left side "Buttons" showing: Cut, Copy and Paste but there are no instructions from "emachines". My grand daughters have a new expression discribing me: "Oh Grandpa", with a roll of the head and a "Tuch" sound.

I think maybe your annoyed because I observed that some how the tops of my "Capitol Pork Chops" wound up in someones "Pork Dish" and it's supposed to be a secret method of converting Pork Chops into. "Pi Quat". It's just meaty "Rib Bones".

Irwin

[twobrain]

Looks lovely!  I have given up cooking pork chops as they always turn out dry and tough - the pork is too, too lean.  But I might give them another chance after seeing this dish!  Thanks for all your hard work sharing these dishes with us.

←

brine, sear, bake

[jo-mel]

hzrt -- I had this dish tonight and they were wonderful. A simple dish, but far from ordinary!

Since it was a last minute idea, they weren't marinated -- and since they were lean, thin boneless pieces, I coated them with a paste mix of Eggbeaters and cornstarch before I fried them. They turned out great. Tender and moist, and even DH loved them. The flavor of the dark shallots really does something! And the subtle shaoxing/soy/sesame flavor is just right.

Thanks!

Edited April 12, 2006 by jo-mel (log)