STORY BEHIND THE RECIPE

When I was young, my parents used to bring me to Yet Con Chicken Rice Stall (family owned) for a meal.  It was one of the best chicken rice stalls in Singapore then. They, and other stalls like Nam Kee at Thomson Road and the original Swee Kee at Seah Street are still around. A specialty of theirs is the Hainanese Pork Chop topped with a savoury sauce with sliced potatoes, peas, onions and carrots.

The memory of sinking my teeth into that juicy, tender and crispy pork chop drizzled in savoury sauce remains etched in my brain to this day. Whenever I cook this dish, I always try to recreate the dish based on my memory of that exact same nostalgic taste from those years ago.

TRICK OF THE TRADE

For Hainanese Pork Chop, it’s tricky how to get the batter to adhere well to the pork. The coating procedure is very important. You must first coat with cornflour, then egg and lastly biscuit crumbs (with some rice flour for extra crispy-ness).

Why? Because the corn flour adheres well to the meat, and it also binds well with the egg. If you try to coat the meat with the egg first, the biscuit crumb layer will become detached from the meat after frying.

When coating the pork with the biscuit crumbs, it is important to gently press the meat down and ensuring it is well coated on both sides, so that the crumbs will adhere well to the pork chop. You should be able to pick up the coated pork chop like this, without the crumbs falling off!

WHAT I LIKE ABOUT THIS DISH

• The crispy yet tender pork chop is a favourite with my family, especially the kids!
• The savoury sauce goes great with the pork chop, and it also goes well on rice.

HOW TO MAKE HAINANESE PORK CHOP?

Cut pork loin into 4 pieces about 1″ thick. Butterfly each piece of pork loin by slicing along the thickness of the loin, but leaving the end intact to make a butterfly shape.

Open up the pork chop and tenderise both sides of the meat using a meat tenderiser, then set aside.

Add oyster sauce, light soya sauce, salt and Chinese wine in a shallow plate and mix well. Coat the meat in the marinade and leave in the fridge for 2-3 hours ideally

Meanwhile, peel and wash the carrots, onion and potatoes. Then dice the onion and carrots, and slice the potatoes thinly.

Put the cream crackers in a double layer plastic bag and crush finely with a pestle. Then add rice flour and mix well. Pour out the cream cracker mixture on a plate

Put a beaten egg into bowl and put the cornflour on a large plate

Take out the meat from the fridge, and coat the meat with cornflour on both sides and shake off the excess flour.

Dip the meat into the beaten egg.

Place the meat on the cream cracker and gently press the meat down ensuring it is well coated on both sides and set aside.

Glaze the pan with oil and pan fry the potato slices until it’s slightly browned and cooked. Set aside

Heat up the wok with a bowl of oil over medium heat. Once the oil is heated, put a piece of meat in to fry until golden brown on both sides. You can use a long pair of tongs to flip the pork chop.

Remove and place on the kitchen towel to drain off the excess oil. Cut into bite sized pieces and set aside.

To prepare the sauce, heat up the wok with 1 tsp of oil and add in the carrot, peas and onion and fry for 3 mins.

Add in water and simmer for about 5 mins and add in the rest of the ingredients (oyster sauce, Worchestershire sauce, salt, light soya sauce), then thicken with the cornflour solution. Lastly, add in the potatoes

Dish up the sauce into a small bowl and serve together with the Hainanese pork chop. If you prefer, you can also pour the hot sauce over the pork chop and serve.

MEAT PREP TIPS

1. Butterfly the pork loin to make the pork chops larger as the cross section area of the pork loin is quite small.
2. Do not cut the meat too thinly. It will get overcooked easily and become dry and hard.
3. Do not over-tenderise the meat. Otherwise, it becomes too powdery.

HOW TO COAT THE MEAT

The coating procedure is important. Cornflour first, then egg and lastly biscuit crumbs.

Reason: the cornflour will stick well with the meat and the flour will bind well with the egg. If you coat with the egg first, the biscuit crumbs will be detached from the meat after frying. The egg cooks easily and will not stick to the meat.

COOKING TIPS

1. Add rice flour to the cream cracker crumbs to make the pork chops more crispy. But if you add too much, the batter will be too hard and dry.
2. make sure you put plastic sheets between the pork chop layer before freezing if you want to save and freeze some of the pork chops for another day after breading the pork chop.
3. Do not add the pre-cooked potatoes into the gravy first until it is ready to serve. Otherwise, the potatoes will soak up the sauce and become mushy.
4. Serve the pork chop and the gravy separately or the pork chop will not be crispy.

ALTERNATIVES

1. You can replace Chinese wine with water if you prefer not to use wine in the recipe.
2. You can use sweet and sour sauce if your family prefers a sweet sauce (see my recipe for Sweet and Sour Pork – Gu Lou Yuk). It also goes really well with the crispy pork chop, and its a nice variation on the dish that kids will love.

DIETARY MODIFICATIONS

• Child-Friendly: No modifications needed.
• Fish-Free: No modifications needed.
• Gluten-Free: Use gluten free sauces instead
• Nut-Free: No modifications needed.
• Shellfish-Free: No modifications needed.

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Old-School Hainanese Pork Chop Recipe

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: Chinese

Keyword: hainanese pork chop, old school hainanese pork chop, pork chop with sauce

Prep Time: 1 hour hour

Cook Time: 30 minutes minutes

Total Time: 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes

Servings: 4

Calories: 311kcal

Author: Bee Leng

Old-School Hainanese Pork Chop is tender, crispy pork chop drizzled in hot savoury sauce. I've put my own twist into this old favourite, so see what's the difference! 

Print Recipe

Ingredients

• 400 gram Boneless Pork Loin
• 1 Egg
• 10 pieces Cream Crackers
• 1 tbsp Rice Flour
• 1 tbsp Oyster Sauce
• 5-6 tbsp Corn flour
• 2-3 tbsp Light Soy Sauce
• 1/4 tsp Salt
• 1 tbsp Chinese Wine (Hua Tiao Chiew / Shaoxing Wine)
• 1 bowl Oil

For the sauce:

• 2 Potatoes Small
• 1/2 White Onion
• 3 tbsp Green Peas
• 3 tbsp Carrots
• 1 tbsp Oyster Sauce
• 1 1/2 tbsp Cornflour solution , 1 1/2 Tbsp Cornflour + 1 Tbsp Water
• 1 tbsp Water
• 200 ml Water
• 1 pinch Salt
• 1-2 tsp Worcestershire Sauce Optional
• 1-2 tsp Light Soy Sauce

Instructions

PREPARATION METHOD

• Cut pork loin into 4 pieces about 1" thick. Butterfly each piece of pork loin by slicing along the thickness of the loin, but leaving the end intact to make a butterfly shape.
• Open up the pork chop and tenderise both sides of the meat using a meat tenderiser, then set aside.
• Add oyster sauce, light soya sauce, salt and Chinese wine in a shallow plate and mix well. Coat the meat in the marinade and leave in the fridge for 2-3 hours ideally.
• Meanwhile, peel and wash the carrots, onion and potatoes. Then dice the onion and carrots, and slice the potatoes thinly.
• Put the cream crackers in a double layer plastic bag and crush finely with a pestle. Then add rice flour and mix well. Pour out the cream cracker mixture on a plate.
• Put a beaten egg into bowl and put the cornflour on a large plate
• Take out the meat from the fridge, and coat the meat with cornflour on both sides and shake off the excess flour.
• Dip the meat into the beaten egg.
• Place the meat on the cream cracker and gently press the meat down ensuring it is well coated on both sides and set aside.

COOKING METHOD

• Glaze the pan with oil and pan fry the potato slices until it's slightly browned and cooked. Set aside.
• Heat up the wok with a bowl of oil over medium heat.
• Once the oil is heated, put a piece of meat in to fry until golden brown on both sides. You can use a long pair of tongs to flip the pork chop.
• Remove and place on the kitchen towel to drain off the excess oil. Cut into bite sized pieces and set aside.
• To prepare the sauce, heat up the wok with 1 tsp of oil and add in the carrot, peas and onion and fry for 3 mins.
• Add in water and simmer for about 5 mins and add in the rest of the ingredients (oyster sauce, Worchestershire sauce, salt, light soya sauce), then thicken with the cornflour solution.
• Lastly,add in the potatoes.
• Dish up the sauce into a small bowl and serve together with the Hainanese pork chop. If you prefer, you can also pour the hot sauce over the pork chop and serve.

Notes

MEAT PREP TIPS

1. Butterfly the pork loin to make the pork chops larger as the cross section area of the pork loin is quite small.
2. Do not cut the meat too thinly. It will get overcooked easily and become dry and hard.
3. Do not over-tenderise the meat. Otherwise, it becomes too powdery.

Read Also:  Homemade Pork Bone Ramen Broth (Tonkotsu)

HOW TO COAT THE MEAT

The coating procedure is important. Cornflour first, then egg and lastly biscuit crumbs.

Reason: the cornflour will stick well with the meat and the flour will bind well with the egg. If you coat with the egg first, the biscuit crumbs will be detached from the meat after frying. The egg cooks easily and will not stick to the meat.

COOKING TIPS

1. Add rice flour to the cream cracker crumbs to make the pork chops more crispy. But if you add too much, the batter will be too hard and dry.
2. make sure you put plastic sheets between the pork chop layer before freezing if you want to save and freeze some of the pork chops for another day after breading the pork chop. 
3. Do not add the pre-cooked potatoes into the gravy first until it is ready to serve. Otherwise, the potatoes will soak up the sauce and become mushy.
4. Serve the pork chop and the gravy separately or the pork chop will not be crispy.

ALTERNATIVES

1. You can replace Chinese wine with water if you prefer not to use wine in the recipe.
2. You can use sweet and sour sauce if your family prefers a sweet sauce (see my recipe for Sweet and Sour Pork - Gu Lou Yuk). It also goes really well with the crispy pork chop, and its a nice variation on the dish that kids will love.

Nutrition

Calories: 311kcal | Carbohydrates: 33g | Protein: 29g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 103mg | Sodium: 1107mg | Potassium: 943mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 2025IU | Vitamin C: 18.3mg | Calcium: 53mg | Iron: 4.8mg