Some of the feedback and requests I received from the readers are for more quick and easy recipes. The other day I made this pork chop after my children’s afternoon swim lesson, the most busy day of the week for me. Because of my mom’s visit, I haven’t had the chance to do my regular grocery runs so my fridge was pretty empty. I quickly ran to get some pork chops, spinach, and other ingredients from the market on the way home and I made this dish in less than one hour including marinade time.
As soon as I came home from the swim lesson, I quickly marinated the meat. Meanwhile I bathed the kids and prepared miso soup, stir fried garlic spinach, and another small side dish. My rice cooker has a timer so I set the rice to be done right before our dinner time. If you are curious about this pork chop flavor, it’s more on the side of salty flavor than sweet (like Teriyaki sauce). If you use this recipe, you definitely want to enjoy it with steamed rice. You can adjust the time for marinade as you like, but please do not marinade overnight or else it will get too salty.
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Asian Pork Chop with Ginger Soy Sauce
Ingredients
- 4 boneless pork loin chops (½-inch thick)
- 1 Tbsp neutral-flavored oil (vegetable, rice bran, canola, etc.) (for cooking)
For Marinade
- 3 Tbsp soy sauce
- 2 Tbsp sake
- 2 tsp roasted sesame oil
- ½-1 Tbsp sugar (adjust according to your liking)
- 1 clove garlic (minced)
- 1 tsp ginger (julienned)
- ½ tsp potato starch or cornstarch
- 1 shallot (or 1 Tbsp minced onion)
Instructions
To Prepare Pork Chops
- Prick the pork chops with a fork so the meat will absorb the marinade. Put the pork chops and all the ingredients for the marinade in a resealable plastic bag. Squeeze out the air before sealing the bag. Keep in the fridge for 30 minutes (I don't recommend more than that as it gets too salty).
To Cook
- You can grill on a BBQ grill, or you can pan-fry. For pan-frying, heat oil in a large pan on medium-high heat. When it’s hot, add the pork chops to the pan, removing the marinade from the pork chop as the moisture will end up "steaming" the meat. Keep the marinade in the plastic bag as we'll use it later. Cook the pork chops until the bottom side is nicely brown.
- Once the meat is brown, flip it and lower the heat to medium-low. Cover the pan with a lid and cook for 3 minutes. You want to make sure the pork is cooked through, but overcooked pork is very tough.
- Add the marinade into the pan and increase the heat to medium. Bring it to simmer and scoop the sauce with a spoon over the meat. Transfer the meat out on serving plates and you can continue to reduce the sauce until thicken.
To Serve
- Serve the pork chop with steamed rice and sauteed vegetables (I sauteed spinatch with butter and season with salt and pepper). Enjoy!
To Store
- You can keep the leftovers in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
