Honey Garlic Pork Chops 蜜汁蒜子豬扒 (Cantonese: mut zup shuen zi ju pa) is my spinoff to the Honey Garlic Riblets 蜜汁蒜子骨 (mut zup shuen zi gwut).
The Chinese have been using honey for at least 4000 years. At first, they used it to sweeten wine and give it a better texture. They also used it for its medicinal properties. It was commonly used in sweet soups and cakes. It wasn’t until the Qing Dynasty that it was added to savory dishes to promote healthy appetites during the hot summer months.
There's a rumour that the Honey Garlic Riblets 蜜汁蒜子骨 was born here in Vancouver, Canada! The original honey garlic riblets from China was a braised dish. Someone at a Chinese restaurant decided to take it a notch up. The chef put a batter on it, deep-fried them and smothered them with a honey garlic sauce. You can take a look at that recipe here. It’s a very delicious dish but does require some extra work with a more complex batter and deep-frying.
My Honey Garlic Pork Chops 蜜汁蒜子豬扒 recipe gives the same great flavour with a simple marinade, some corn starch and no deep-frying. It’s not as crispy as the riblet recipe, but it’ll take a fraction of the time and still has some crispiness to it. Pan-frying instead of deep-frying means less oil and less clean-up. And the honey garlic sauce is super easy too!
I love combining honey, garlic and a bit of salt. You can also use the honey garlic sauce from this recipe to finish off chicken wings that you put on the barbeque. It’ll give you a really nice glaze and great caramelization, sure to make any meat extra delicious! You can also add some plum sauce, lemon juice or ketchup to it to make a garlic sweet and sour sauce.
Consider adding some assorted peppers and onions to add some colour and extra flavour. It’s really easy to customize this dish and make it your own. Give my Honey Garlic Pork Chops 蜜汁蒜子豬扒 recipe a try, I’m sure your family will love it!
I've also created a non-deep fried version of sweet and sour pork! Check it out: Easy Sweet and Sour Pork 簡易咕咾肉. If you prefer the traditional deep fried method, I have that too! Crispy Sweet and Sour Pork 脆皮咕嚕肉. You can't go wrong with either recipes!
Honey Garlic Pork Chops 蜜汁蒜子豬扒
Ingredients
- 4 Pork chops , approx. 800g
- 6 cloves Garlic , chopped
- 5 tbsp Honey
- 6 tbsp Corn starch
- ½ tsp Salt
- 2 tbsp Oil for frying pork chops
- 1 tbsp Oil for frying garlic
Ingredients for pork marinade:
- 2 tsp Light soy sauce
- 1 tsp Sugar
- 1 tsp Shaoxing wine
- ¼ tsp White pepper powder
- ¼ tsp Garlic powder
Instructions
- Absorb excess liquid and clean off any bone fragments on pork chops with a paper towel
- Mix 2 tsp light soy sauce, 1 tsp sugar, 1 tsp Shaoxing wine, ¼ tsp white pepper powder and ¼ garlic powder in a large mixing bowl
- Cover both sides of each pork chop with the marinade and set aside
You can marinate for 30 minutes to 3 hours if you have time but 5 minutes works well too - Chop 6 cloves of garlic and set aside
- Add 6 tbsp of corn starch on a plate and cover each piece of pork chop with it. Set aside
- Heat a pan on medium-high heat and add 2 tbsp oil
- Place pork chops onto frying pan and fry for 2-3 minutes until brown
my pork chops were approx. 12mm thick and I fried each side for 2 minutes - Flip over and fry until done
best to use a meat thermometer but you can also try poking through it and if the juice runs clear, it should be done - Remove pork chops from pan and set aside
- Add 1 tbsp oil to the pan and fry garlic until aromatic and golden. Turn heat to low
- Add 5 tbsp honey and ½ tsp salt to the garlic and mix well
- Put the pork chops back into the pan and cover each with honey and garlic sauce. Turn heat off
- Serve
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