June 21, 2007

Baked Pork Chops with Fried Rice


Fried rice in Asian food is such a rustic food that is basically a combination of leftover rice with leftover anything to form a one-dish meal. And it actually brings out the beauty of fried rice that there are unlimited range of ingredients that can be used to create your own version of fried rice.

The essence of a good dish of fried rice is the rice itself. You might be surprised to learn that the perfect rice for making this is leftover rice. You have to put the freshly cooked rice in the fridge for at least a day. In that way, the rice will turn firm and be easier to separate. If you go for freshly made rice, your dish will probably be pretty mushy. And that's the reason why I always cook rice for more than we need, and have the leftover lying in the fridge for days.

(serves 4)
Ingredients:

Pork Chops
4 pork chops
salt and pepper to season
1/2 cup flour
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup canola oil

Sauce  
2 tablespoon canola oil 1 onion, chopped in small pieces
1 garlic clove, mashed

4 tomatoes, chopped in small pieces
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup ketchup
1/4 cup oyster sauce
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 cup water

Rice
3 tablespoon canola oil
8 bowls of leftover rice
1 egg, beaten
3 tablespoon soy sauce
2 tablespoon sesame oil


Directions:

Pork Chops
Season pork chop with salt and pepper.

Dredge the pork chops a piece at a time, first in flour, then in the beaten egg.

Heat oil and deep-fry the pork chops in medium high heat until slightly golden brown. Set aside.

Sauce
In a saucepan, saute the garlic and the onions in oil until transparent without browning.

Add tomatoes. Saute until the tomatoes begin to soften.

Add salt, pepper, ketchup and oyster sauce. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.

Thicken sauce with the cornstarch and water.

Rice
Heat oil in wok until smoking.

Add eggs. Then add cooked rice and stir fry over high heat.

Add soy sauce and sesame oil to taste.

Assemble
Preheat oven to 375F.

Put the fried rice on a large oven proof dish.

Place the fried pork chops on top of the rice in a single layer.

Pour the sauce evenly over the pork chop.

Bake in the oven for 20 minutes or until the sauce is slightly brown on top.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

We have fried rice a lot (I lived in Taiwan as a girl) Not only do I use leftover rice, but also leftover chops. 1 porkchop diced up will go a long way!

Anonymous said...

I love this recipe. I can't wait to give it a try!