Most of the Vietnamese restaurants in my area feature some kind of grilled pork chop dish. It’s an item that I order frequently, but haven’t put much effort trying to make. Needless to say, I had a couple pork chops in the fridge, and nary an idea what to make. So my giant brain came up with Vietnamese pork chops. Why not? Why not sooner, would be a better question.
Just like any obsessed foodaholic, the first step to pork chop heaven was a couple google searches. Most of the recipes seemed to be similar. Lemongrass, shallot, garlic, ginger, fish sauce and sugar. Pretty straight forward, but I have a problem with authority, I decided I’d put my own spin on it. Sometimes that can be my downfall, and take out pizza ends up being the final result. Luckily, this wasn’t not be the case.
My biggest fear with asian recipes, is they tend to be pretty salty. Adding other components can help balance the dish. For this recipe, white wine and vinegar add acidity to tenderize the pork, and tame the sodium levels. You could use oil, water or any other liquid, to reduce sodium. Beer would have been great. One thing to note is that bone in chops are the desired cut, but I worked with what i had.
Recipe:
1 Pound of Pork Chops, Bone in is Best
2 Tablespoons White WIne
1 Tablespoon Fish Sauce
1 Tablespoons of Raw Sugar – If you don’t have raw sugar honey, agave, brown sugar is fine. White sugar will work but I wouldn’t advise it
1 TeaspoonWhite Vinegar or Rice Vinegar
2 Tablespoons Minced Shallot
1 Tablespoon Minced Ginger
1 Tablespoon Minced Garlic
2 Jalapeno Peppers (optional)
3 Inch piece of lemongrass
Mince veg and mix all the ingredients together and marinate at least 2 hours. Overnight would be better.
Grill on a medium heat, both sides, until internal temp of 145. Let it rest for 5 minutes on a warmed plate and eat.
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