After chasing the kids around with a bag of pork chops soaking in red stuff, they were all determined that they weren’t going to eat that stuff. How things changed when they tasted it. Everybody loves that pork you get with chinese food take out, the pork with the nice red colour that penetrates into the meat and has a nice sweet taste. Now, you can have it at home. Best of all, it’s really easy! Our 5 year old, who doesn’t eat much meat, came back for seconds and ate almost a whole huge chop by himself.
Recipe:
1 1/2 cups of hoisin sauce
1 cup of oyster sauce
1/4 cup of black bean garlic sauce
3 cloves of garlic, chopped (if you’re lazy like me, use a huge tbsp of prechopped stuff)
1 tbsp of chopped, peeled fresh ginger (I grated it)
1 teaspoon of red food colouring
6 nice fat pork rib chops
mix the first 6 ingredients in a bowl.
Place chops in a big ziplok bag. Pour in the mixture from the bowl, squeeze out the air and stick em in the fridge. Leave them there for 3-5 days. We actually left them in the beer fridge for 6 days.
When cooking time comes:
Preheat the broiler – we used the default 500 degrees.
Line a baking sheet with foil. This is a killer recommendation, as it cuts down on the clean up.
Remove chops from marinade & put them on the sheet. Don’t drain off the marinade, as you want them to be goopy.
We followed the instructions and cooked them for 9 minutes a side. When you turn them over, they look a little raw, but it all evens out & they are perfect.
We sliced the chops thin, like you would have from Wong’s delivery, but you could serve them as regular chops. It might be a good idea to make a couple of extras to slice up and add to some noodles.
The menu suggestion from Bon Appetit included a funky applesauce and something else that sounded like it would take too much time. I had no interest, so I don’t even remember what it was! Instead, we took the easy route & used some Asian Home Gourmet brand Singapore stir fry noodles, tossed with a half a bag of pre shredded coleslaw. Easy, colourful and very tasty!
A funny aside about the noodles. Twelve year old Shelby loved them. 5 Year old Riley hated them. The freak of the house, 7 year old Duncan hated the noodles, but picked out and ate ALL of the cabbage!!
Overall, this recipe was a huge hit in the house and I think it will become a staple. Next time, I think we’ll try the chops on the barbie.
