We watch a lot of food shows.. I love watching people cook, and absorbing their techniques and recipes.I figured watching all this cooking and people eating delicious things — some of it’s probably gotta stick to my unconscious turning me into a better cook right? Thick cut pork chops is something I always see. Whether it’s BBQ, a cooking competition, or high end dining — the thick center loin cut pork chop is hard to miss. It looks sooooo delicious! Vietnamese pork chops are usually really skinny, nothing compared to the American pork chop, kinda like the people. Haha, that’s a really big generalization. I should know. Although I’m Vietnamese, I’m definitely not a Vietnamese pork chop. I’m like South American + Texas sized pork chop off a pig on steroids. I think I’m digressing…
I’ve watched so many people cook it (and under cook it on food shows), and I’ve always wanted to put a Vietnamese spin on it and make it at home. I was browsing Whole Foods during one of my seemingly rare occasions that I leave my house the other day and saw they were on sale! I usually try my best not to buy pork, but the pork at Whole Foods is at least has some standards for cultivation that makes me feel a little bit better. I got 2 large chops coming in around 1.4 pounds for around 8 bucks. Such a steal in my opinion!
Since the pork chops thicker, I couldn’t really expect to cook it normal Vietnamese style over a pan or the grill. I wanted to make sure that I got nice sears, and kept the chop juicy. That’s why having a hot pan for a good quick sear and baking in the oven is vital to cooking a thick pork chop well.
Ingredients for thick cut pork chops:
- Chicken breast (LOL JUST KIDDING! YOU NEED THICK CUT PORK CHOPS NOT CHICKEN BREAST HAHA)
- Minced garlic and lemongrass
- Oyster sauce
- Honey
- Salt and Pepper
- Red pepper (optional)
- Fish sauce
Instructions for your thick cut pork chops:
- Wash and pat dry your chops.
- Create your marinade in a separate bowl using the ingredients listed above. It should be a little salty, subtle with sweetness, and strong with the aromatics (lemongrass and garlic). Make sure to use only a touch of honey. Too much, and it’ll cause your chops to caramelize and burn too quickly.
- Once your marinade is where you like it, add it to your chops and let it marinate in the fridge for up to 2 days.
- Bring your chops to room temperature. Set your oven to 400 degrees.
- On a hot skillet with some neutral oil such as vegetable or avocado, sear your chops. This should take about 1-2 minutes per side. Once you place your chops down, don’t move it until you hear less sizzling (it means the juices and marinade has done a lot of caramelizing, and you’re ready to flip) or when it’s browned enough. You want to see a nice golden brown crust on your chops. Brown homies, not black. Black means it burnt. But I guess its a good way to burn calories (HAH dad joke #2).
- If your skillet is oven proof, transfer your skillet to the oven. If not, remove your chops and place them on a sheet of foil in your oven. You can bake for 10-15-20 minutes (depends on your oven) until the center of your loin chop is around 145 degrees.
- Let rest for 15 minutes before serving.
In a way, my recipes and blogs kind of like the skill level 3’s of fitness classes. You know when you look up yoga classes or Pilates classes and they’re like oh if you don’t know basics go to the beginner’s class, and then the other classes are based off the understanding that you know what standing dog, sitting dog, and peeing dog poses are. My cooking doesn’t come with exact measurements. I keep saying this. But its really hard to give anyone measurements. Every family and palate has different preferences. Even more important, not all salt is the same salty. Salt, fish sauce, oyster sauce, honey, sugar — we all have different types in our pantry and all of them are different so the balance with all these flavors is really up to the chef to determine. You’re the chef. I’m talking to you. If you always need exact measurements, it’s really hard to build your intuition in the kitchen. It’s also really hard to be able to cook with whatever ingredients you have without specific recipes. The goal of the cooking done in my family has always been about making do with what you got and being creative. This way you can go to the grocery store and buy items that are fresh and come up with the recipes later. It also allows you to be creative with leftover ingredients from previous dishes. Building intuition in the kitchen isn’t just a life long skill, it’ll help make sure you’re always eating fresh in season produce, and reducing your waste with very little effort.
Damn, who thought you’d get a recipe and a ted talk all in one post? Haha, happy eating everyone!