For best flavor, select fatty chops for this recipe. You’ll be sorry if you go lean or use boneless chops. Gnawing on the bone is the cook’s bonus!
Servings: 4
Ingredients
2thick-cut bone-in pork chops(1 ½ pounds total)
5 to 6sprigs rosemary
½medium yellow onion,sliced
2garlic cloves
1teaspoonpacked brown sugar
¼teaspoonfine sea salt
¼teaspoonpaprika(regular, smoked or hot)
¼teaspoonblack pepper
⅛teaspoonturmeric
1tablespoonfish sauce
2tablespoonscanola or other neutral oil
½cupNuoc Cham Dipping Sauce(optional, see Note)
Instructions
Pat the pork chops dry and set aside on a plate or in a zip-top plastic bag.
Strip the leaves from a 5-inch sprig of rosemary, dropping them into a small food processor. Set the remaining rosemary aside. To the processor, add the onion, garlic, sugar, salt, paprika, pepper, turmeric, fish sauce and 1 tablespoon oil. Whirl into a puree. Scrape onto the pork and spread it all around. Cover (or close the bag) and refrigerate for 2 hours or up to 24 hours. Let sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes before cooking.
Position a rack in the top third of the oven (aim for the pork to cook about 5 inches from the heat source), and set the oven to broil. Line a small baking sheet with foil and place a rack on top. Scrape the marinade off the pork (reserve it for other uses; see Note below) and gently blot moisture from the pork. Place the pork on the rack and drizzle the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil.
Broil the pork chops for 5 to 6 minutes per side, or until browned at the edge and a meat thermometer inserted registers about 145F. At the end, I like to broil the first side for about 45 seconds extra to refresh it.
Put the remaining rosemary on a plate and set the pork chops on top. Loosely tent with foil, a domed lid or inverted bowl. Let sit for 5 to 10 minutes before slicing and serving with the dipping sauce, if you like.
Notes
The nuoc cham dipping sauce recipe is here.If rosemary isn’t available, use ¼ cup chopped cilantro sprigs and let the chops rest on a plate without any herbs.Instead of paprika, try ⅛ teaspoon ground annatto for cheerful color. After scraping off the marinade, I cooked it down to little crispy bits in a skillet and showered them on the pork for serving. Or, add rice to the pan and make a quick dirty rice.NEVER miss a recipe! Sign up for the newsletter.