I love Asian food. I love cooking eat, the flavors that it offers, and the art that is sometimes involved in creating it. Unfortunately I live about an hour and a half away from the nearest Asian or international market. Because of that I’m forced to use a few shortcuts, and substitutions when cooking Asian food. The downside to that is that I can’t get what i really want, the upside to that is that some dishes tend to come take less time to cook or prepare. In the case of this dish, I’m using a remade Asian salad kit, only I am making my own dressing rather than using whatever was in the kit. I am also adding in great onion and purple cabbage to the kit.
For the salad:
Salad kit take away the dressing add in purple cabbage and green onion
Dressing
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
¼ cup rice wine vinegar
3 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 garlic clove,minced
1 tablespoon ginger grated
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon chili flakes or chili paste
For the pork chops, i used center cut chops that are about 1/2 inch thick, but this recipe goes well for chops about an inch thick as well. Simply adjust as needed. The flavors that come out of this dish are simply amazing. If you’re bored with doing the same ole thing with pork chops, give this a try. You only need about an 20 minutes to an hour to marinade the chops. Making this an ideal weeknight meal, that is also affordable.
For the marinade:
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
1 teaspoon sesame oil
2 teaspoon honey
1 1/2 teaspoons corn starch
1/4 teaspoon 5 spice powder or chili flake
1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine mirin or chicken stock
When its time to cook, take the chops out of the fridge and let them get to room temp, pat them dry and get your skillet on the heat until it starts to smoke. Add in one or two tablespoons of vegetable oil and sear the chops on both sides. Depending on the thickness it should only take 3-5 minutes per side to sear the steaks.
When the chops are done, its time to plate. Place the salad in the center of the plate, with chop or chops on top it the salad. Garnish with either cilantro or toasted sesame seeds. This makes a beautifully presented, flavorful and affordable weeknight meal.