Having tasted an absolutely delicious pork chop at a local Vietnamese restaurant, I went looking for a recipe to try and reproduce it at home. As usual, Serious Eats did not disappoint. I’ve modified their recipe slightly so that all the ingredients are available at the closest supermarket, or ingredients we typically stock at home. We’re not sure how it stacks up against the original Serious Eats recipe, but it’s definitely pretty good!
Ingredients (serves 2)
- 1.5 tsp Ground White Pepper
- 1/2 tube of Gourmet Garden Lemongrass Stir-In Paste
- 1 Small Onion
- 4 Medium Cloves Garlic
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup Fish Sauce
- 2 tbsp Vegetable Oil
- 4 Thin-Cut Pork Loin chops, bone-in.
Instructions
- Mince the 1 small onion and 4 medium cloves of garlic, and place into a mixing bowl.
- Squeeze 1/2 of the tube of lemongrass paste into the mixing bowl.
- Add to the mixing bowl 1/3 cup sugar, 1.5 tsp ground white pepper, 1/4 cup of fish sauce, and 2 tbsp vegetable oil. Mix well.
- Add the pork chops to the mixing bowl, and coat them well with the marinade.
- Transfer the marinade and the pork chops to a gallon sealable bag. Space the pork chops so that they are in one layer in the bag, ideally with some marinade on both sides.
- Push as much air out of the bag as possible, seal it, and put it in the fridge.
- Allow to marinate in the fridge for 2-3 hours, then flip the bag over.
- Allow to marinate for another 2-3 hours.
- Pre-heat the BBQ on High (both burners)
- Getting a great sear and caramelization of the sugar requires high temperatures, so aim for 500^{\circ}\mathrm{F}.
- Place all 4 pork chops on the grill directly above one of the burners, and close the lid.
- Allow the pork chops to cook for 3 minutes.
- Flip the pork chops onto the grill above the second burner, and close the lid.
- Allow the pork chops to cook for 3 minutes.
- Transfer the pork chops to a plate and serve.
Notes
- Serious Eats’ suggestion of the fattiest pork chop you can find is definitely the right way to go. The thin-cut pork loin chops at the nearby supermarket were the fattiest available. We tried it with the leaner top loin chops and while still good, it was an inferior, dryer chop.
- I cut the extra pinch of salt because fish sauce is already plenty salty.
- Some notes on marination time:
- We tried 30 minutes at room temperature, and the result was vastly inferior to the longer marination time. We normally aim for a total of 6 hours in the refrigerator (you prepare the pork chops and marinade around lunch time, and they’re ready to cook at dinner time.)
- Serious Eats has a maximum 12 hour marination time. Presumably meat quality is impacted if you exceed that, so we haven’t tried. This does mean that “preparing them the night before” doesn’t work.
- When grilling, the grill position matters! To get the best sear and caramelization of the marinade, you want both sides to be hit with the hottest grill possible. The instructions have you flip to the second burner because flipping them “in place” makes for a cooler grill and a disappointing sear.