Homestyle Pork Chop

This is my ultimate "mom's dish". It is easy to prepare, easy to cook and delicious. If you have been following my blog, you would notice that I am a big fan of dishes that require very few ingredients and very few steps. Except the occasional elaborate experimental dishes such as the Curry Puff or the Butterscotch Flan.

How easy is it to make this "mom's dish" pork chop? Follow along!

Ingredients (serves 4)
1 lb of lean pork shoulder/pork butt/肉眼 (if you shop at the chinese grocery store)
soy sauce
salt
pepper
Five Spice powder
corn starch
ginger (optional)

Instructions

1. Slice the pork into half an inch thick.
2. Use the back of the knife and pound the pork until it is flat.  (time to make some noises!!! A good way to release some stress and anger, make sure you follow precautionary steps)




                                               Pork chops after being pounded. Pardon my sloppy slicing



3. Transfer the pork into a container and marinate the pork with 3-4 tablespoon of soy sauce, 1 teaspoon of five spice powder, a pinch of salt and a pinch of pepper.
4. Marinate this for 1 hour at room temperature, or in the refrigerator for >1 hour. You can marinate it overnight too.
5. Take the pork out from the container and rub some freshly grated ginger over it (mom actually does not do this).


 



6. Pat the meat with generous amount of cornstarch to create a thick layer of coat.


 



7. Heat about 2 tablespoon of oil in a non-stick pan and transfer the meat to the pan when the oil is hot.
8. "Fry" each side of the pork at medium heat for about 5 minutes. Keep an eye on the amount of oil in the pan. Since cornstarch soaks up oil, it will be necessary to add a little more oil.
9. "Fry" the pork until the cornstarch turns golden brown and very slightly charred at some places.
10. It is time to serve.

                                        Battle of two pans! The non-stick pan is definitely the winner

                                        Not quite ready. Needs to be a little crispier than this

                      

                                                                    until it becomes likes this

Non stick pan might win the cooking battle but stainless steel pan created the most delicious thing on earth. Scraps!!


Everytime I think about mom's food, I think about this dish. The outer layer of the pork is crispy and the meat inside is still succulent. This dish does not use as much oil as the traditional fried pork chop. You can serve this with a plain bowl of rice like I did, or pasta or between two slices of bread, like a sandwich!

This pork chop definitely stores well in the refrigerator for a couple of days so you can make a few more pieces in advance.

What do you think of when you think about "mom's dish"?

Oh, one last thing. For extra crispiness, you can coat the pork with an EXTRA layer of panko bread crumbs!