Pork Chops with Vegetable Rice (排骨菜飯)

The first time I tried this pork chop and vegetable rice was in a Shaighai restaurant in Hong Kong, I was immediately hooked up and especially fond of the vegetable rice. This dish is very balanced and wonderfully tasty.

I was bumped into some foreigners in Asian stores and asked about how to cook baby bok choy for a several times. It seems that western people are getting to know and like this kind of Chinese vegetable.

In Hong Kong, there’s a trend of cooking baby bok choy with rice, that was originated from Shaighai cooking. And this Pork Chops with Vegetable Rice (排骨菜飯) is a famous Shaighai cuisine, suitable for home cooking as well.

When it comes to cooking this dish, the pork chops has to be deep-fried. Well, I don’t quite like to do deep-frying in home cooking simply because of saving some oil and money. Hehe…

So I just pan-fried the pork chops and add some fish sauce. Yes, I know….. I know that fish sauce is Thai sauce. Oh, that’s my kind of cooking, adding bits of yummy sauce from the fridge to my liking.

I found these pork chops tasted heavenly after mixing with the fish sauce. If you want to maintain the authentic Shaighai taste of this dish, then not to add any fish sauce. That’s it.

Pork Chops with Vegetable Rice Recipe

(Printable recipe)
By Christine’s Recipes
Prep time: 20 mins
Cook time: 45 mins
Yield: 5 to 6 serves

Ingredients:

• 5 thin pork loin chops (about 450 gm)
  
• 400 gm baby bok choy (小棠菜 or 青江菜)
• 2 cups Jasmine rice
• 2 cups + 2 Tbsp unsalted chicken stock
• 2 tsp minced garlic
• 2 tsp minced shallot
• 3 slices ginger
• A dash sesame oil
• 1 tsp fish sauce, optional

Marinade:

• 2 tsp light soy sauce
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp cornflour
• 2 tsp freshly grated ginger juice
• 1 tsp Shaoxing wine
• pepper, to taste
• salt, to taste

Method:

1. Rinse pork chops and wipe dry with kitchen papers. Trim excess fat and mix with marinade for 20 minutes.
2. Rinse rice and cook in a rice cooker, just like the way you used to cook rice, by adding chicken stock instead of water this time. Add 2 cups of chicken stock into rinsed, drained rice, then cook until done.
3. Rinse baby bok choy and drain well. Roughly chop into pieces. Separate leaves and white stems apart. Heat oil in a wok or pan, sauté ginger slices over medium-high heat. Add white stems of bok choy first in wok as they need more time to be softened. Stir fry stems for a while until soften a bit, then followed by leaves. Sprinkle salt to taste and combine well. Pour 2 tablespoons of chicken stock and cook bok choy until 70% done. Add sesame oil and discard ginger. Drain well. Or else your rice would be too soggy. Toss bok choy and stir with the cooked rice. Sprinkle salt to your taste. Remember to taste it by yourself until you’re satisfied. Cover and set aside.
4. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a frypan. Cook pork chops until both sides are lightly brown and cooked through. Remove and place on a platter. Cut pork chops into small portions if desired. Saute garlic and shallot in the same frypan. Toss back pork chops. Sprinkle fish sauce and quickly combine well. Dish up. Garnish with red chilies, served with hot vegetable rice. Enjoy!