Pork Chops With Garlic Sauce
By Michael · from our van kitchen
When we go out to Hong Kong style cafes in the San Gabriel Valley, a lot of them have a garlic sauce that comes with the pork chops and chicken steaks. This is my try at that flavor at home in the van. It isn’t exactly that sauce, but it has a really sweet, nice garlic flavor to it.
I don’t have a real recipe for it. Every time I make it I’m freestyling: a little of this, a little of that, then I taste and adjust. So below are the things I put in it, and the amounts are by feel.
The first time I made these pork chops we were on the road in Arizona, between Phoenix and Tucson, cooking on our little butane camp stove. My microphone died halfway through, so I promised to cook it again with a full explanation. I made it again about six weeks later while we were camping at a farm in Ramona, California, and that’s the one to watch me make it, starting with the pork chops going into the baking soda water.
The baking soda soak
This is the step I’d never skip. The pork chops sit in water with baking soda for 20 minutes to half an hour before I cook them, and it tenderizes them. Just rinse the baking soda off really well before you season them, and pat them dry.
For seasoning I use white pepper, garlic powder and a touch of salt. The white pepper also covers up any of the porky smell the meat can have.
The sweet garlic sauce
The base is concentrated chicken bouillon and a little water for the savory part. Hoisin and ketchup make it sweet. I’ve also used a Japanese style ketchup. Later I started adding a little fish sauce. Some days I add a little garlic powder too, on top of the fresh garlic.
The fresh garlic goes into the hot pan first, after the meat is out. Let it start to brown, add the sauce, then thicken it with a little cornstarch and water. I use the garlic a lot, so I keep saying I should buy the pre-peeled kind.
Other ways we use it
This sauce has become a regular in our van. I’ve made it for chicken thighs and hot dogs for a mixed grill dinner, and I serve it with crispy chicken steaks. It’s really good with rice, or with bread to dip in the sauce. The night I made it with chicken thighs, I tasted it and said it hits the spot.
The first night I made extra pork chops on purpose, so the leftovers could be breakfast the next morning.
If you know the recipe for the garlic sauce the Hong Kong style cafes use, leave it in the comments on the video. I’ll definitely try it out.
Ingredients
Pork chops
- Thin pork chops
- Water and a little baking soda, for soaking
- White pepper
- Garlic powder
- A touch of salt
- Lard, for the pan
Sweet garlic sauce (no fixed amounts, I go by taste)
- A little concentrated chicken bouillon
- A little water
- Hoisin sauce
- Ketchup
- A little fish sauce
- Garlic powder (optional)
- A few cloves of fresh garlic, chopped
- Cornstarch mixed with water, to thicken
Steps
- Put the pork chops in a container, add a little water and baking soda, and let them soak for about 20 minutes to half an hour. This is what tenderizes them.
- While they soak, mix the sauce in a bowl: a little concentrated chicken bouillon, a little water, hoisin sauce, ketchup and a little fish sauce. Taste it and adjust. You want it sweet and savory. Chop up a few cloves of garlic and set them aside.
- Rinse the baking soda off the pork chops and pat them dry.
- Season them with white pepper, garlic powder and a touch of salt.
- Optional: pour about half of the sauce over the pork chops and let them sit for 10 to 15 minutes. Save the rest of the sauce for the end.
- Heat a cast iron pan to medium high with some lard. Turn on a fan, it gets smoky.
- The chops are thin, so they cook fast. I put them in three at a time, press them down with a steak press so the whole piece touches the pan, and flip them when the first side looks good. Plate them.
- Toss the chopped garlic into the same pan, then pour in the rest of the sauce.
- Stir in a little cornstarch and water to thicken it. When it looks about right, it's done. We serve it in a bowl on the side of the pork chops.
Amounts are what I said in the video. Where I didn't measure, it says "to taste". Cook it your way.
