Asian Inspired Pork Chops

 

Asian Inspired Pork Chops

 

I know I have been quiet for a little while, sometimes things just get crazy.  Last week my niece called and asked if I could prepare a birthday dinner for her mom, who is my only sister.  She requested egg rolls, which is everyone in my family's favorite.  I only make egg rolls about once a year, they are kind of time consuming, make a mess in the kitchen, and are deep fried in oil.  I learned to make them many years ago from a Taiwanese woman, who offered a cooking class to the Officer's Wives Club.  I usually make them with fried rice, and a few other Asian dishes.  This meal took two days of prep and cooking.  My sister was surprised, and we all had a wonderful time.  I will share these recipes with you later this week. 

I brought home some of the leftover fried rice, since I made enough for an army.  I had it in the freezer and wanted to use it for dinner last night.  I took out a package of pork chops and a container of green beans along with the fried rice and set to work.  This is a recipe that evolved as I was cooking. I have often mentioned the importance of having a well stocked pantry, and this recipe is a result of that.  Everything I used for this recipe was in my pantry. You might think it weird to keep fresh ginger, but I use it fairly often.  I cut it up into one inch pieces and freeze it. Here we go.

1 package pork chops - I used center cut, boneless, but you can use any kind of pork chops.

Marinade:

1/2  cup soy sauce
1/4  cup honey
3 cloves garlic, run through a garlic press
fresh ginger-a one inch piece, grated

Sauce:

3/4 cup chicken or vegetable broth
1 T cornstarch

Mix the first four ingredients together.  Place the pork chops into a zipper bag and pour the marinade over.  Marinate for about 1 hour.  Drain and reserve the marinade.  I cooked the pork chops on the grill, but you could bake them or put them under the broiler.  My pork chops were thick cut, so they took about 7 minutes per side.

While the pork chops were cooking, I made the sauce and prepared the green beans.  Pour the reserved marinade into a sauce pan, add the broth and bring to a boil.  Boil for about three minutes.  Stir the cornstarch into a quarter cup of water and add to the pan. As soon as it begins to thicken, turn the heat to low.  If it becomes too thick, just add more broth or a little soy sauce.

I put the green beans in a pan with a tablespoon of oil.  I used coconut oil, but vegetable oil is fine.  I added a quarter cup of soy sauce, and two cloves of garlic, which I ran through the garlic press and a few shakes of pepper.  I cooked these about 5 minutes over medium heat until they were "al dente".

I reheated the rice, removed the pork chops from the grill, poured some of the sauce over and served the rest at the table along with the green beans and rice.  We had a great meal!

Happy Cooking!

Carol
a.k.a. Nonnie