Sometimes I think that my interest in cooking is partly due to the limited choice of restaurants in Brisbane when you eat out. Instead of trying to find a nice restaurant that serve decent food (that is reasonably priced), it is far easier to learn to cook yummy food. (Not to mention how much healthier it is for you!) This dish is really something I would never make when I'm at home in Hong Kong. I mean why would you go through the trouble of all those chopping and stirring and baking and washing up when you can get the same dish (probably a better version of it), along with a drink, at 大家樂 across the road at $40?
This rice dish is probably the most classic Hong Kong fast food dish. I have yet to come across a person from Hong Kong who has not had it before. It's got fried rice, it's got pork chop, it's got tomato sauce, and it's cheesey and so so so yummy. The pork chops are juicy and flavoursome. The rice has absorbed all the flavours from the cheesy tomato sauce, the eggs and all the vegetables. On its own it is such a satisfying meal, and a little antidote to homesickness.
Baked fried rice with pork chop adopted from Christine's Recipe
2 bowls cooked brown rice
1/2 onion, diced
2 capsicums, diced
3 small tomatoes, diced
150g frozen mixed peas, corn and carrots
3 cloves of garlic, crushed and chopped
2 eggs, beaten well
2 pork chops
all-purpose flour
salt & pepper, to taste
soy sauce, to taste
2 tbsp tomato paste
1/2 cup of cheese (I used a combination of shredded Parmesan and ricotta)
1) Sandwich each pork chop between two layers of plastic wrap. Use a rolling pin or a meat hammer to flatten the pork chop to half its original thickness. Remove any visible fat. Marinate them in sugar, pepper, sesame oil, soy sauce and cornstarch overnight (or at least 30 minutes)
2) Pre-heat oven to 220 degrees C.
3) Heat oil in a pan on a medium-high heat. Place the pork chops in the beaten eggs, then cover both sides with flour. Cook the pork chops in the pan until both sides are golden brown and about 90% cooked through. Remove the meat from the pan and set aside.
4) In the same pan, heat oil on a medium heat. Cook the chopped onion until transparent. Add the garlic and stir for about one minute. Stir in the capsicum and frozen vegetables. Cook until they are warmed through and soft. Remove from the pan and set aside.
5) In the same pan, heat oil on a medium heat and pour in the eggs. When the eggs are starting to set, mix in the cooked rice and break up the rice if there are any clumps. Continue to stir until the eggs are well combined with the rice. Then add in the tomatoes and 2/3 of the cooked vegetables. Mix well and season with pepper and soy sauce. Pour the rice mixture in the baking dish. Top with pork chops.
6) In the pan, heat up the tomato paste and 1/2 cup of water on a high heat. Stir until the mixture comes to a boil then reduce to medium heat. Slowly add in small amount of flour (about 1/2 tsp each time) into the mixture until it thickens to the desirable consistency. Mix in the remaining vegetables and season with sugar and pepper. Pour the sauce over the rice and the pork chops. Sprinkle cheese on the top. Bake for about 20 minutes or until the cheese has melted and the pork chops are cooked through. Serve immediately.
I find it quite funny that a few colleagues at work are always so interested in what I bring to lunch. They can be fascinated by basic dishes like fried rice, 梅菜蒸豬肉 (steamed pork mince with dry pickled Chinese vegetables) 、蒸水蛋 (steamed egg)、豆腐煮魚 (tofu with fish) etc. And I can never find the most perfect and accurate way to explain to people exactly what ingredients such as 豆豉 (Chinese fermented black beans) or 腐乳 (fermented bean curd) are. I guess in Hong Kong, we are pretty lucky to be exposed to cuisines from so many different countries and we have become accustomed to a wide variety of cooking and flavours.
I remember when I first came to Australia, a friend from boarding school told me that she would never eat fish that had any skin or bones attached to it. That was almost incomprehensible to me as we would have steamed whole fish at home at least two to three times a week and it is a dish that I really enjoy (not to mention how much I love those fish eye balls!) And think of all those delicious sashimi that she is missing out just because she's scared of raw meat!
Anyway I cooked this dish a few nights ago and brought the leftover to work for lunch the next day. A colleague couldn't help ask me what I was having because she reckoned it smelled really good. I got kinda embarrassed because, after all, there isn't anything impressive about pork chop in a pineapple sauce right? But I guess this is part of what they call cultural differences. And maybe I can start spreading the message that home-cooked Chinese meals are nothing like the greasy Chinese takeaway that you get from next door!
Pork chop with pineapple and capsicum
2 slices of pork chops
1/2 onion, sliced
1/2 red capsicum
1/2 yellow capsicum
1/2 green capsicum
2 cloves of garlic, crushed and roughly chopped
1 can of pineapple pieces
Sauce: pineapple juice from the can, 1 tbsp ketchup, 1 tbsp sugar (adjust to taste), 1 tsp worcestershire sauce
1) Place pork chops between 2 layers of cling wrap and flatten with a meat mallet or a rolling pin to half of its original thickness. Slice them to 1cm-thick pieces and marinate with sugar, soy sauce, ground pepper, sesame oil and corn starch.
2) Heat oil in pan. Cook pork chop pieces until cooked through. Remove from pan and set aside.
3) In the same pan, add sliced onion and cook until transparent. Add garlic and capsicums and cook until capsicums start to soften. Stir in pineapples, pork chops and the sauce into the pan and bring it to boil. Then reduce the heat and allow to simmer for about 5 minutes.
4) Thicken the sauce by adding a mixture of 1 tbsp water and 1 tbsp of corn starch. Serve with rice.
2 bowls cooked brown rice
