Chinese Porterhouse Pork Chops {recipe}

Growing up, pork chops were one of my least favorite family dinners.   Coated in Shake n Bake and cooked, and cooked until they were so firm a steak knife would bow as you sawed through them, it was one of the few meals I wouldn’t fight my brother for seconds on.  They ranked only slightly higher than hobo dinners, yet, just like those horrid foil packets of sliced kielbasa and mushy vegetables I dreaded, the chops required a vat of Ranch dressing to make them swallowable.   Of course, this was before the USDA revised the temperature guidelines for cooking pork.  The new rule-of-thumb is 145 degrees and 3 minutes resting time, which results in one juicy, tender chop.  Voilà:

Speaking of revisions, did you know pork cuts recently underwent a renaming process?  I had no idea, until I started searching for this month’s North Carolina Pork Council Blog Network featured cut of pork:  the Porterhouse Chop, formerly known as the pork loin chop.  I found this handy reference image on the Pork Be Inspired website:

For these chops, I was shooting for big, bold flavors and juicy meat — something a wee bit crazy to put the chops of my childhood to shame.

Chinese Porterhouse Pork Chops {recipe}

Serves 2

• 2 bone-in, inch-thick, Porterhouse Pork Chops

Marinade:

• 1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
• 2 tbsp fish sauce
• 2 tbsp hoisin sauce
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp toasted sesame oil
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 large green onion, sliced
• ¼ cup cilantro, chopped
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
• 2 tsp lime juice (or other citrus)
• 1 tsp minced fresh ginger

Optional:

• pickled red onions (see recipe here)

Combine marinade ingredients in a square baking dish.  Add chops, tossing to coat, cover, and refrigerate for up to 8 hours.

Remove chops from fridge, and let rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.  Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.  Once hot, remove chops from marinade and add to pan.  Cook for approximately 3 minutes, then flip and cook 3 minutes more, or until the internal temperature reaches 145 degrees.  Remove from pan, tent loosely with foil, and rest for 3 minutes.

Optional salty finishing sauce:  double the marinade recipe, reserving half.  Transfer reserved marinade to a small sauce pan.  Bring to a boil, boil rapidly for two minutes, then remove from heat.

Serve chops naked, or topped with marinade reduction, pickled red onions, and fresh cilantro.

Disclaimer:  as a member of the North Carolina Pork Council Blogging Network, I was compensated for the cost of pork used in this post.