Pork Chop Bento (排骨飯 Pái-Gǔ Fàn)
Taiwanese Deep-Fried Pork Chop is adapted from Japanese Tonkatsu. Pork Chop Bento (排骨飯 Pái-Gǔ Fàn) is one of the popular street foods in Taiwan. You also can find Pork Chop Bento (排骨飯 Pái-Gǔ Fàn) in many people’s bento box during the lunch or dinner hours.
I used to deep fry my pork chops, but I felt so guilty throwing away the used oil (we recycle EVERYTHING in Taipei City since 2000). I have used the oven-fried method to make this dish for the last 5 years. Of course, the texture will be different from the deep fried method, but it is good enough for me.
Ingredients
- 1 lb Pork Chop
- ½ tsp Salt
- 1 cup Whole Wheat Panko*
- 1 tsp Granulated Garlic**
- ½ tsp Ginger Powder
- ½ tsp Chinese Five Spices
- ¼ tsp Star Anise Seed Powder***
- ¼ tsp Ground White Pepper Powder
- 1 Tbsp Soy Sauce
- 1 Tbsp Rice Wine
Directions
1. Rinse the pork chops with cold water, pat dry with paper towels.
2. Place the pork chops on the cutting board to cut the tendon, then place a piece of the plastic wrap (the size should be twice as big as the pork chops) to cover the pork chops.****
Cut the tendon
3. Use a meat hammer to tenderize the pork chops. (Do it piece by piece, you can reuse the plastic wrap).
Use the meat hammer to tenderize the pork chop
4. Place pork chops on a plate, sprinkle with salt, then place them in the refrigerator to rest for 20 minutes.
Sprinkle the salt all over the pork chop
5. Place granulated garlic, ginger powder, Chinese five spices, star anise seed powder, ground white pepper powder, soy sauce and rice wine in a bowl, mix well.
6. Pour the mix-seasoning from step 5 onto the pork chops, mix well. Marinate at 20 minutes.
Mix well with the seasoning, then marinate 20 minutes
7. Line a half sheet pan with aluminum foil, then put a cookie rack on top of the pan.
8. Coat the pork chops lightly with whole wheat panko. Make sure the pork chops are evenly coated.
Coat the Panko all over the Pork Chop
9. Arrange pork chops on the cookie rack.
Arrange Pork Chop on the Cookie Rack
10. Preheat oven to 425°F, bake for 15 minutes.
11. Serve with boiled veggies and rice (or Brown Rice / Multigrain).
Bon Appétit!
Notes:
* You can use regular panko, but whole wheat panko has better texture.
Kikkoman Whole Wheat Panko
** I did not use fresh garlic because it becomes bitter after being oven-fried.
*** Star Anise Seed powder can be found in Asian supermarket. Cinnamon powder is an acceptable substitute.
**** The plastic wrap on top is just there to control splatter.
The original blog was first published here
Tina Schumacher began her culinary endeavors and photographic career shortly after migrating to the USA in 2005. Tina’s interest in Asian “food” was derived from necessity, as she was born and raised in Taiwan, where a multitude of culinary delights are found on street corners, family restaurants, and night markets. In the States, she found it hard to find high quality Asian food that hadn’t been “Americanized”. Tina’s photographic career morphed from personal photos to professional level after completing more than 15 college level courses in digital photography to supplement her own skills. She utilized her photos to document over 600 culinary delights, and continues to add to the fold weekly. Tina enjoys water skiing, snow skiing, and travel, when not working or practicing her favorite culinary skills.