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Hainanese Pork Chop is one of the East meets West dishes that is commonly seen in Asia. Pork chop is coated with crumbs from cream crackers and served with sweet and sour gravy and air-fried potatoes wedges.
Easy Delicious Hainanese Pork Chop
I remember as a child, eating Western food was a luxury. One of my favorite things to order when we went to eat at restaurants that served Western or fusion cuisine was bistik (steak) babi (pork) or bistik ayam (chicken). The term steak in Indonesia almost always refers to meat like chicken and pork. It is hardly ever a beef (if ever!). Beef is expensive in Indonesia and the majority of the Chinese population in Indonesia does not consume beef because they worship the Guan Yin Goddess.
WHAT’S SO SPECIAL ABOUT HAINANESE PORK CHOP
1. ASIAN FUSION
Hainanese pork chop is definitely an East meet West food and I always have a thing for marrying different flavors in a dish! You gotta try it to know what I mean.
2. CREAM CRACKERS
Cream crackers are also one of the crackers I grew up eating a lot. Kids from my generation would know exactly what I mean. The special thing about the Hainanese pork chop is each piece of pork chop is coated with crumbs made of these crackers. Thankfully, they can be found at the Asian grocery store here. My mom swears by using cream crackers in replaced of regular bread crumbs. Things just taste better with it.
HOW TO MAKE HAINANESE PORK CHOP
1. PREPARE THE PORK
Use the plastic wrap to cover the pork chop and then use meat mallet (I used pestle) to gently pound the meat into 1/2-inch thickness.
2. MARINATE THE PORK
Marinade the pork chops with the marinade ingredients overnight (if you have the time), otherwise at least for 1 hour if you are pressing for time.
3. COOK THE PORK CHOPS
Preheat about 1-inch of oil for deep-frying. Place cornstarch in one shallow platter, the beaten eggs in another shallow platter and cream crackers crumbs in another shallow platter.
Coat the pork chop in cornstarch first.
Then dredge in beaten egg.
Coat with crackers crumbs on both sides. Gently press to make sure the crumbs are coating the pork chops evenly.
Fry until golden brown over medium heat, about 2 minutes on each side. Repeat with the rest of the pork chop.
4. COOK THE POTATO WEDGES
I use air-fryer to fry the potatoes. Peeled the potatoes and quarter them. Dab them dry with a paper towel and then drizzle some cooking oil to coat the potatoes. Place in the air-fryer (do not overcrowd) and cook at 400 F for 15-20 minutes.
5. PREPARE THE GRAVY
Mix all the sauces ingredients for gravy in a mixing bowl. Preheat with 1 Tbsp of cooking oil on a skillet or saucepan.
Add in onion and saute until they are fragrant and tender, about 3 minutes.
Add the green peas and cook for about 1 minute.
Pour in the sauce followed by tomatoes. Stop here if you are not ready to serve the pork chops yet.
When ready to serve, bring the gravy to a boil and then give your cornstarch mixture a stir and then pour into the sauce.
Stir and cook until it is thickened.
TIPS YOU NEED TO KNOW
1. THICKNESS OF THE PORK CHOPS
Get thin-sliced pork chops from the grocery store if available. This save you some times from having to cut and butterfly the pork chops at home. Do not use a thick cut to make this Hainanese pork chops. The crumbs will get burn on the outside and the pork is not cooked through inside
2. CONTROL THE HEAT
It is important to fry the pork chops over medium heat so the crumbs won’t get too dark before the pork chops get cooked through
3. THICKEN THE GRAVY WHEN READY TO SERVE
It is best to thicken the gravy when you are ready to serve the pork chops. The gravy will be smoother.
HOW TO SERVE HAINANESE PORK CHOP
1. SERVE WITH GRAVY ON TOP
This is best when you are serving it right away. The pork chops will get soggy soaking in the gravy for too long.
2. SERVE WITH GRAVY ON THE SIDE
Some people like to serve the gravy on the side as it helps to maintain that crispy crumbs on the pork chops.
The Hainanese pork chop is crispy on the outside and tender inside (oh..remind me of the chicken Milanese I made a while back) and the lightly tangy and sweet sauce to go with the pork chop is just heavenly.
DID YOU MAKE THIS EASY AND DELICIOUS HAINANESE PORK CHOP RECIPE?
I love it when you guys snap a photo and tag to show me what you’ve made 🙂 Simply tag me @WhatToCookToday #WhatToCookToday on Instagram and I’ll be sure to stop by and take a peek for real!
Easy Delicious Hainanese Pork Chop
Ingredients
- 500 gr thin-sliced pork chop
- 2 eggs beaten
- 20 cream crackers processed into crumbs
- 2 large potatoes peeled and quartered
- Oil for frying
Marinade:
- 1 tsp freshly ground white or black pepper
- 1 Tbsp oyster sauce
- 1 Tbsp cooking wine
Other ingredients:
- 1 small onion quartered
- 1 Tbsp cooking oil
- ½ cup green peas thawed if frozen
- 1 large tomato quartered
Sauce for gravy:
- 4 Tbsp ketchup
- 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 2 Tbsp brown sugar
- 200 ml water
- Pinch of salt to taste
- 1 Tbsp corn starch + 2 Tbsp water
Instructions
Prepare the pork:
- Use the plastic wrap to cover the pork chop and then use meat mallet (I used pestle) to gently pound the meat into 1/2-inch thickness. This will also help to tenderize the meat. Season both sides with salt and freshly ground pepper
- Marinade the pork chops with the marinade ingredients overnight (if you have the time), otherwise at least for 1 hour if you are pressing for time
Cooking the pork chop:
- Preheat oil for deep-frying. Place cornstarch in one shallow platter, the beaten eggs in another shallow platter and cream crackers crumbs in another shallow platter. Coat the pork chop in cornstarch first and then dredge in beaten egg and finally coat with crackers crumbs and fry until golden brown over medium heat, about 2 minutes on each side. Repeat with the rest of the pork chop. Keep them warm in the oven while making the gravy
Air-frying potatoes:
- Peeled the potatoes and quarter them. Dab them dry with a paper towel and then drizzle some cooking oil to coat the potatoes. Place in the air-fryer (do not overcrowd) and cook at 400 F for 10-15 minutes or until the potatoes are golden brown and cooked through.
Preparing the gravy:
- Mix all the sauces ingredients for gravy in a mixing bowl. Use a skillet or medium size saucepan. Preheat with 1 Tbsp of cooking oil. Add in onion and saute until they are fragrant and tender, about 3 minutes. Add the green peas and cook for about 1 minute. Pour in the sauce followed by tomatoes. You can prepare ahead up to this point.
- When ready to serve, bring to a boil and then give the cornstarch mixture a stir and then pour into the sauce. Stir and cook until it is thickened.
Serving:
- Slice the pork chops into strips. Place the pork chop on a serving platter. Spoon the sauce over the pork chop along with the onion and green peas. Served with air-fried potatoes on the side and some rice if you wish. Serve immediately
8 comments
Just a feedback. Can just go straight to the point on how to cook. Wasting a lot of time and space for people to scroll. People are only interested in the recipe.
There’s a button on top “jump to recipe” to go straight to the recipe.
So yummy!! Thank you so much for sharing!,🤗
You are very welcome Joyce. Glad you like it 🙂
Bistik! Gonna try this soon! 🙂
Thank you for sharing amazing recipes!
You are so welcome Linda. Glad to have met you here too.
Thanks for sharing the recipe Marvellina. I am going to make this for dinner. It reminds me of the ‘bistik babi/ayam’ that we can get from the food stalls in Medan.
Great blog by the way.
Hi Susan, yes…EXACTLY! I love that kind of bistik 🙂 Not exactly Western, not exactly Asian 🙂 Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by 🙂