This is just a quick little dish I made today. I wanted something relatively simple, but tasty. All I did was lightly season some boneless pork loin chops with some Garlic Award Mix. Then I pan fried it in just a little bit of oil. I made the sauce in the same pan, taking advantage of the fond that developed while I was cooking the pork chops.

If you’ve been read some of my other recipes, there has a been a trend of the all-purpose seasoning that I use. I really like the Garlic Award Mix, its an excellent blend of spices and garlic (one of my favorite spices). Any other season blend can be used (e.g. Mrs. Dash, Montreals Steak or Chicken seasoning, or make your own etc).

Brine
1/2 cup kosher sault
1/4 cup sugar
2 quarts water

Pork Chops
6 1/2″ pork loin chops
Garlic Award Mix
2 tb oil

Sauce
1 shallot, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
2 ts worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup vermouth
1 tb lemon juice
2 tb butter

Mix salt & sugar in 2 quarts of water until dissolved. Place pork chops in brine to soak and place in refrigerator for 30 minutes. Drain and lightly rinse the pork chops. Pat the pork chops dry with paper towels. Lightly sprinkle the garlic award mix on both sides of the pork chops.

In a 8″ skillet heat oil over medium high heat. Reduce heat to medium and cook pork chops in 2 batches. Cook on each side for 3 minutes. Place cooked chops on a warm plate, tented with foil, while cooking the 2nd batch.

Once all the pork chops are cooked, remove pan from heat and saute the shallots for 15 seconds, scraping the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Add garlic and cook (off heat), for another 5-10 seconds. Put pan back on the burner at medium low heat and add the vermouth worcestershire sauce. Stirring over medium low heat, bring just to a slight simmer, about 2-3 minutes. Add juice that has collected in the bottom of the plate where the chops have been resting, bring back up to a slight simmer. Add lemon juice and butter, 1 tablespoon at a time. Stir until well combined.

Serve sauce on the side.

I’ve been craving Tonkatsu for weeks and I just haven’t gotten around to making it. I think this is probably one of the easiest Japanese dishes to make. I learned this technique from a Japanese co-worker years ago. I did make a few of my own tweaks to it that I thought made a crunchier (and better sticking) crust. I bet you’re wondering what ‘ajinomoto’ is, well, its just MSG. I just think ajinomoto sounds better . This is an optional ingredient to use, as I am aware that there are many people who are sensitve to MSG. I have never omitted MSG, so I do not know what the taste difference would be. I do not use very much, just a light sprnkle on each side. On to the pork chops, I bet you’re asking why buy 1/2″ chops just to pound them down to 1/4″, why not just buy 1/4″ ones. I guess you could do that, but I think pounding them makes them a little more tender, and you relieve some stress at the same time.

As a suggestion from a friend, I decided to add a few more pictures to this recipe. It will show some of the steps I took to create this dish. And you’ll a couple of links to some short videos demonstrating a couple of things. Sorry no voice instructions for this recipe .

6 - 1/2″ Pork Top Loin Chops
1 1/2 cups panko bread crumbs
1/4 cup cornstarch
2 eggs
2 tbl water
salt
pepper
ajinomoto (optional)
canola oil for frying

1. Put pork chops one at a time into a ziplock bag. Pound the pork chop (video link here) with a meat pounder until they are approximately 1/4″ thick.

2. Sprinkle both sides with salt, pepper, and ajinomoto.

3. In a shallow bowl or plate put cornstarch, set aside. In a shallow bowl add eggs and water and beat until frothy. Set aside. In a separate plate add the panko bread crumbs.

4. Working with one chop at a time. Dip both sides into cornstarch to lightly cover. Then dip both sides into egg mixture.

5. Set onto panko bread crumbs and sprinkly some bread crumbs on top. Flip the chop over to coat the other side with bread crumbs. Press firmly on pork chop to bread crumbs set in. Transfer to plate or baking rack set over paper towels.

6. Repeat steps 5 & 6 with the remaining chops.

7. Pour about a 1/4″ of oil into a 12″ skillet. Heat over medium-high heat until breadcrumbs bubble and float to the top once dropped into oil (video link).

8. Reduce heat to medium and carefully put 2 pork chops into hot oil. (video link here)

9. Cook for about 3-4 minutes until golden brown. Turn over and cook for 3-4 minutes until golden brown.

10. Transfer to wire rack to drain and cool slightly. Cook remaining pork chops as diredted in step 10.

Serve with rice and tonkatsu sauce.

I experimented with variations of the dry rub before I came up with the combo that I have here. I started off with the base from the Good Eats episode “A Rib for All Seasons” The dry rub recipe that he used is excellent as well. I’ve changed quite a bit of the ingredients but have roughly kepts the proportions at a ratio of 8:3:1:1. This rub works well quite a few meats, I’ve used it on the pork loin roast, ribs and chicken. The original rub is quite yummy, but I wanted mine to be unique. I wanted to add my own twist to it. Some of the ingredients I used can be found in the spice asiles of most grocery stores but there is one (Garlic Award Mix)that I got from the Gilroy Garlic Festival and I am not sure how easily available it is in markets. But it can be found over the net. I’ll usually make a double batch of this and put into a jumbo size shaker. That way I always have some readily available.

Da’ Rub
8 tablespoons light brown sugar, tightly packed
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoons Garlic Award Mix
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon pappys seasoning
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon coriander seed, lightly crushed
1/2 teaspoon celery seed
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon paprika

Pork Loin Roast
2 1/2 to 3 lbs pork loin roast, tied in 1 1/2″ intervals
6 tablespoons salt
3 quarts cool water
2 tablespoons olive oil

mesquite charcoal

1. Dissolve salt in 3 quarts water. Place pork loin in salt water and let soak 1-2 hours in the refrigerator.

2. Remove pork loin from salt water, rinse and pat dry. Pour the oil over the pork loin and generously coat with rub. You may not use all the rub, and that is ok. Let pork loin come to room temperature while you start the bbq.

3. Light approximately 6 quarts of coal until they’ve covered with a thin layer of ash. Create a 2 level fire by stacking coals 2 - 3 deep on one side of the grill. Put grate on grill and clean with grill brush. Close lid and let grate warm up for about 5 minutes.

4. Place pork loin perpendicular to the grate but opposite side of the fire. Close grates closest to fire and open ones on the oposite side of grill. Grill for 10 minutes, turn pork loin and cover again. (I sometimes keep the the grill lid open, but use one of those aluminium chafing dish pans to cover it.) Cover and grill until internal temperature reaches 145 degrees.

5. Once pork loin is cooked take off the grill and let stand, tented with foil, for 10-15 minutes. Slice and serve. I like to serve it with roasted red potatoes.