Crispy Pork Chops in Curry Sauce
serves 4
(Taiwan)
The first time we tasted this meal was on our trip to
Taiwan to meet our daughter-in-laws family. Unlike American pork chops,
these delicious breaded and fried scallopini are fragrant with the subtle taste
of Chinese five spice supported by the taste of the Char Siu Sauce they are marinated
in, the longer they are marinated the more fragrant they become. When we visit our son and Taiwanese
daughter-in-law in Southern California, this is one of the Asian specialties we
look forward to.
Preparation time: up to 2 hours
Chop cooking time: up to 20 minutes
Golden Curry Sauce cook time: 15 minutes
Total cook time: 35 minutes
Ingredients
Taiwanese crispy pork chops:
4 – ¾
inch, boneless pork chops
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup Taiwanese michiu
wine (substitute Japanese Mirin)*
1/8 teaspoon white pepper
1/8 teaspoon five-spice powder*
1 teaspoon Char
Siu Sauce* (Chinese barbecue sauce [DO NOT substitute American Barbecue sauce])
3-4 cloves
garlic, micro-planed
1 cup Panko bread
crumbs
1 egg, beaten
2/3 cup sweet
potato flour* (acceptable substitutes are tapioca or
corn starch)
Peanut or
vegetable oil sufficient for frying
golden curry sauce:
2 tablespoons
butter
¼ to ½ cup
chopped onion
¼ to ½ cup sliced
carrots
1 2/3 cups water
1 3.5 ounce
golden curry sauce mix (I recommend S&B brand medium hot)*
Preparation
Taiwanese crispy
pork chops:
1. One at a time, place each pork chop in a large, re-sealable plastic bag and
pound the chop into a thin (1/2 to ¼ -
inch thick) scallopini and set aside in the refrigerator.
2. When all the pork chops have been pounded,
create a marinade by combining the soy sauce, the michiu wine, the white
pepper, the five-spice, the barbeque sauce, and the micro-planed in a small
mixing bowl. Once the marinade has been
created, pour it into a large, re-sealable plastic bag. Place the pork chops into the bag and seal,
squeezing out as much air as possible.
Allow the pork chops to marinate for several hours, turning the bag
every so often, to allow all the flavours to develop.
3. When the pork chops have marinated for
several hours, build a breading station by placing the sweet potato starch, the
beaten egg, and the Panko bread crumbs in three separate plates. Bread each of the pounded pork chops by first dredging each in the sweet potato
flour, then in the egg mixture, and finally in the Panko bread crumbs
4. Once each of the pork chops have been breaded
on both sides heat enough vegetable oil
to fill a large, heavy bottomed frying
pan to a depth of about 1/2 inch over medium high heat and fry the pork chops,
turning once, until golden brown on both sides and cooked through.
golden curry sauce:
1. Melt the butter in a medium sauce pan. Add the chopped onions and sliced carrots and
saute until the onions are slightly browned and the carrots are softened, about 5 minutes.
2. Add water and bring to a boil, as soon as the
water comes to a rolling boil remove the pan from the heat. Break up the golden curry mix into pieces and
add to the water, carrots, and water stirring until all the pieces of curry mix
are dissolved. If the sauce seems too
"tight" add a little water, a tablespoon at a time, until the sauce
"loosens up" to your satisfaction.
service:
Serve by plating cooked,
plain white rice on each of 4 service plates, place one Taiwanese crispy pork
chop on top of that on each plate, and top each plate with ¼ of the golden
curry sauce. Serve hot.
*
easily found on the Asian or Oriental products aisle in most supermarkets
