I have a confession. I misled you. That last post about tea eggs...it was actually a teaser for this post right here. Although those marbled beauties are fine and dandy to eat alone, their real destiny is to play a supporting role in this plate of porky goodness.
When I was a teenager and lived with my parents in the Dallas suburbs, we used to go to this hole-in-the-wall Taiwanese cafe that served shaved ice, pork chop over rice, and a bunch of other Chinese street food that I don't particularly remember. I woke up one day about a month ago with a serious craving for those same fried pork chops from my days of yore. And instead of wandering over to Manhattan to find a place in Chinatown, somehow my squirrely brain went straight to the least logical resolution: I have to make it myself! This is the recipe I finally landed on (with some help from this amazing YouTube channel).
Pork chop over rice, or pai gu fan (排骨饭), though it may look fancy, is really Chinese cafeteria/street food. I mean that in the best way possible (as in street food in any culture is seriously some of the best food you can get). It consists of a marinated and fried pork chop, usually on the thinner side, sitting on top of some rice and ground pork sauce. It is often served with a side of pickled mustard greens and a tea egg.
The pork chop is usually super crispy, and for the life of me, I could not figure out what the traditional coating is composed of. As I learned, there are some things even Google can't answer. I finally settled on a mixture of potato starch and all-purpose flour in a 2 to 1 ratio. Potato starch yields a crispier coating than the more common corn starch, but when I used only potato starch to coat the chops, they turned out a little too papery and delicate. I then tried a 1 to 1 mixture of potato starch and flour, which yielded a coating that was a little too akin to chicken fried steak, too hearty, too heavy. So I upped the potato starch a little more, cut back on the flour, and settled on the golden 2 to 1 ratio. With that, I present to you: pork chop over rice.
Loosely adapted from Make Food. Eat Food.
Notes:
I find that the bone-in pork chops sold in most stores/butcher shops are too thick for this recipe as they are usually at least 1 inch (if not more) thick. You can either ask the butcher to specifically cut you four chops that are about 1/2 inch thick, or get two of the thicker chops and ask them to cut each in half. Additionally, look for pork chops with good marbling, better marbling equals juicier pork chop. I made these guys three times in a week, and one of those times the chops I got were very pale in color with almost nonexistent marbling, and in turn, after being fried they were bone dry. Don't make my mistake!
You can find Shaoxing rice wine, pickled mustard greens (aka suān cài, 酸菜), fried shallots, and potato starch at any large-ish Asian grocery store. I think Bob's Red Mill also makes a potato starch so you might be able to find it at Whole Foods et al.
Serves 4.
Ingredients:
For the pork chops:
4 bone-in pork chops (each about 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick, see note above)
1 tbsp minced garlic
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp Shaoxing rice wine
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp five spice powder
1 cup potato starch
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
neutral high-heat oil (such as peanut) for frying
For the pork sauce:
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp minced garlic
1/2 lb ground pork
1/4 cup fried shallots
2 cups water
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp Shaoxing rice wine
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp five spice powder
a few generous grinds of black pepper
For serving:
3 cups cooked rice (I like jasmine or calrose), plus more as preferred
1 cup pickled mustard greens, small dice
4 tea eggs
Instructions:
For the pork chops:
Place pork chops in a large zip top bag. In a bowl, add garlic, soy sauce, rice wine, sugar, and five spice. Whisk to combine. Pour sauce over pork chops, seal the bag, and toss to distribute evenly. Place the bag in the fridge for 1 to 2 hours.
For the pork sauce:
While the pork chops are marinating, in a large saucepan or braiser over medium heat, add olive oil and garlic. Cook for 1 minute until fragrant. Add the ground pork and cook for 5 to 6 minutes until browned, breaking up any large pieces with the back of a wooden spoon. Add fried shallots and stir to combine, then add water, soy sauce, rice wine, sugar, five spice, and black pepper. Bring to a boil, turn the heat to low, and simmer for 1 hour until the pork is tender, the shallots have dissolved, and there is no more than 3/4 cup of liquid in the pan. Cover and set aside while you finish the pork chops.
To finish the pork chops:
In a large bowl, add potato starch and flour. Whisk to combine. Remove the pork chops from the zip top bag and place them on a clean plate. Pat off any excess marinating liquid with a paper towel.
In a cast iron pan or wok, heat up 1 inch of oil over medium high. The oil is ready if it crackles vigorously when you flick in some water. But for the sake of precision, before I put my chops in, the oil was registering around 360 - 370 degrees F. One at a time, liberally dredge the pork chops in the starch/flour mixture, gently place in the oil, and fry for 1 to 2 minutes per side or until golden, taking care not to overcook them as they'll dry out (the pork chops will darken significantly after you take them out of the oil, so I suggest pulling them out when you think they are a pale gold). If you have a large enough skillet, you might be able to fry them two at a time, I did not. When done, transfer the pork chops to a wire rack to drain.
To assemble:
Place a good scoop of rice on each plate, spoon some pork sauce over the rice, place a pork chop on top, and serve with a side of mustard greens and one tea egg per plate.