Been craving Taiwanese food lately so I decided to make Taiwanese Pork Chop Rice 排骨飯 again at home, using my new Tefal pans. One of the things about making this is that it doesn’t require a lot of oil to deep-fry the marinated pork chops, so I think the Tefal 28″ Saute Pan is perfect for this given its generous pan size. I made this last year but I will post the recipe again below.

I got these beautiful bone-in pork chops at the supermarket; I dunno why for some reason eating 排骨飯  when the pork chops don’t have bones just don’t taste the same (for me). :P I still can’t find pork chops as big as the ones I’m used to buying at the supermarkets in NY, but these are pretty good.

It’s important, and where possible, to use sweet potato flour instead of corn starch to coat the marinated pork chops. Sweet potato flour is thicker and not as powdery as corn starch, so it adheres better to the pork chops to yield a crispy sweet crust.

When your pork chops are done marinated overnight, and you’re ready to begin cooking, sprinkle sweet potato flour and coat evenly on both sides of the pork chops.

I am really loving the Tefal saute pan because the red dot in the center turns solid red, informing me that the right temperature of 180C for cooking has been reached. Normally I rely on gauging visually whether the oil is thoroughly heated through or not by putting a wooden chopstick into the oil and look for air bubbles. Or I sprinkle a bit of sweet potato flour to see whether it sizzles. Now, all I have to do is glance at the red circle in the middle of the pan. When it has turned solid red, it’s time to fry the pork chops.

Notice that not a lot of oil is required. Just about 1/2″ should be more than enough.

My perfectly done and crispy bone-in pork chops that’ve been marinated overnight then sprinkled with sweet potato flour before frying in shallow oil. The marinade and the sweet potato flour, in my opinion, help to retain the juiciness of the pork chops, so they don’t get all dried out, overcooked or rubbery.

Ready to be served! I usually add a few fixings to my plate of Taiwanese Pork Chop Rice such as…

Braised ground pork, pork belly and egg. I just throw all the ingredients into a slow cooker and use a spice packet for flavor.

Szechuan vegetable, as accompaniment.

Pickled garlicky cucumber, as accompaniment.

TAIWANESE PORK CHOP RICE

Ingredients

4 thick bone-in pork chops
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 tablespoon white wine
1/2 tablespoon Chinese five-spice powder
Vegetable oil for frying
Sweet Potato Flour (or Cornstarch for substitute if you can’t find the former)

Method

1. With a sharp knife, make several small slits near the edges of the pork chops to keep them from curling when fried.

2. Into a large resealable plastic bag, add the soy sauce, garlic, sugar, white wine, and five-spice powder. Place pork chops into the bag, and close the seal tightly. Carefully massage the marinade into pork chops, coating well. Refrigerate at least 1 hour, turning the bag over every so often. (I left mine to marinade overnight actually.)

3. In a large skillet, heat enough vegetable oil to fill the skillet to a depth of about 1/2 inch. Remove pork chops from resealable bag without wiping off marinade. Lightly sprinkle sweet potato flour or cornstarch on both sides of the pork chops.

4. Carefully add pork chops to skillet; cook, turning once, until golden brown on both sides and cooked through.

-MB.