Vietnamese Pork Chops

My kids does not really like pork chops. That's probably because my regular way of cooking them - grilled, or broiled, does not really produce super tender meat. They are juicy, flavorful, alright, but... just not super-tender enough for the kids. I mention the adjective "super-tender" because that is how my children prefer their meats - soft, falling off the bones, almost melt-in-the-mouth kind. You can tell I do not cook pork chops often.

When I read about Wandering Chopstick's Braised Pork Chops with various herbs, I knew I just have to try it. She promised these pork chops are "incredibly tender." She braised the pork chops until they become tender. Which makes sense! Why have not tried this before???

4 pcs pork chops

2 stalks lemongrass, finely minced
6 cloves garlic, finely minced
1-inch knob ginger, finely minced
1 chili pepper, finely minced
2 T honey
2 T Vietnamese Fish Sauce (I used Filipino Fish Sauce)
1 T rice wine vinegar
1/2 t ground black pepper

1. Chop the lemongrass, garlic, ginger, and chili pepper, as finely as you can. Mince everything in a food processor until everything is a fine paste. (As you can see from the picture, I simply chopped everything and did not use the food processor to make a paste.)

2. Add honey, fish sauce, rice wine vinegar, and ground black pepper. Then slather the marinade all over the pork chops.

3. In a large sauce pan on high heat, drizzle a bit of oil and quickly sear the pork chops. Add 1 cup of water, turn the heat down to medium-low and let simmer for at least 1 hour. ( I think I added 30 minutes more of braising to make the chops super tender.)



Other than not making the herbs into paste, I followed all her instructions. The result is truly a soft, melt-in-the mouth, falling off the bones pork chops. I think the taste is also the same, except that the texture of the sauce is more rough. Next time, I will make sure the herbs are minced to have a finer, and smoother sauce.



This dish goes to the Bookmarked Recipes community. Bookmarked Recipes is a world-wide foodie event....where anyone from anywhere can blog about a recipe they had bookmarked from a cook book, food magazine, food blog, food website, from TV etc, make it and submit it to a weekly roundup. It is created and regularly hosted by Ruth of Ruth's Kitchen Experiments. But since Ruth is on vacation, this week's edition will be hosted by Pam of Sidewalk Shoes. I personally made last week's round-up. You may want to check it out here. :)