Hainanese Pork Chop 海南豬扒 - "Malaysian Monday 91" And 3 hungry Tummies is 3!

3 hungry tummies is 3 today! It feels like only yesterday when I first started the blog, not knowing anything about blogging but armed with just a new point and shoot camera and countless recipes to share. It has been a wonderful and satisfying 3 years; getting to know like minded people and learning new recipes and cooking tips through this very strange exercise. It is going to be a challenge to keep the blog running due to the nature of my new job but I think I will work out a way so that I can be here for a little longer.

I would like to thank everyone for your continued support and tummy (and my other friends) for being very patience (whenever I cook and all the nonsense with photographing the end result before most meals) with me for the last 3 years. And now let's get to my first MM post for the month....

After spending the beautiful Sunday dining and wining near our increasingly gentrified neighbourhood,  it was time to think about our dinner. I chose a favourite childhood dish of mine which is now a favourite of the tummies household. 

This is another of those dishes that you won't find in the city, country that the dish is named after, in this case the beautiful island of Hainan in southern China. In fact this is a dish created by the Hainanese who worked for English households during the colonial era; using tomato ketchup, worcestershire sauce (or HP sauce), potato chips and peas to recreate what they perceived was western food. It is still served at most of the remaining Hainanese owned coffee shops in Malaysia and Singapore. The good news is, dishes such as this is having a revival of fortune when more and more people are looking for the "flavours of the past". 

P.S I have done a post on the chicken version so if you prefer a non pork version, please click here.

serves 4 as part of a Malaysian or Chinese meal

you'll need;

4 pieces of pork cutlet (loin with a little fat is the best)

dash of light soy*

dash of white pepper*

dash of sesame oil*

1 egg, beaten*

3 potatoes, peeled and cut into wedges

1 tomato, cut into wedges

1/2 cup of peas

1 onion, sliced

3 cm piece of ginger, chopped

2 garlic cloves, chopped

breadcrumbs or cream craker crumbs 

marinate pork with ingredients marked * for 15 minutes.

for the sauce ;

5 tbs of tomato ketchup

2 tbs of HP sauce

1 tbs of worcester sauce

2 tbs of oyster sauce

2 tbs of sugar

dash of white pepper

1/2 cup of water or stock

mix all the ingredients in a bowl and set aside.

corn flour solution

Flatten pork chop with a kitchen mallet.

Marinate with ingredients marked*.

While the pork is being marinated, prepare the other ingredients. It was nice have a pair of helping hands.

Fry potato in batches until golden and crispy and drain well.

Crumb pork chops just before frying and fry until golden and crispy.

For the sauce - Saute chopped garlic and ginger til fragrant then add in the onion. Fry for a minute to soften then add in the sauce mixture and cook for another minute. Add pea and tomato wedges and cook for a further minute. Thicken with a little corn flour solution and check for seasonings.

Cut pork chops into strips and pour the sauce on the side, we served it with plenty of steamed rice.

My friend Sharon will be hosting the October event, so please send all your entries to its.sharon@gmail.com

To find out more about the event and on how to enter, please click here.