Pork Chop with Scallion Oil 蔥油豬扒 (Cantonese: choang yau chu pa) is a lesser known Hong Kong café dish here in the west. It may not even make the menu at most Hong Kong cafés, at least here in Vancouver. But this dish is no stranger in Hong Kong. The boneless chicken with scallion oil is probably even more popular ever since cheap frozen American chicken meat became available in Hong Kong. Whether it’s pork or chicken, this is a very simple and very tasty dish that you can easily make at home.
Scallion or green onion oil is a very common sauce in Chinese cooking. We add it to noodles, any blanched meats, steamed buns, pancakes and so much more. If it were up to me, I’d add it to everything! Shallot oil is very similar and is almost always found in Fujian style cooking. I add it to my Fujian style rice dumplings which makes it one of the tastiest rice dumplings ever, in my opinion. It can pretty much make everything taste better! My in-laws are from Fujian and I always look forward to eating their thin noodles in soup 麵線 (pronounced mi soi in Hokkien dialect) that is always finished off with a spoon full of shallot oil. You can use this recipe to make the scallion oil and add it to your everyday dishes. It can make plain rice taste gourmet!
And who doesn’t love pan-fried scallion pancakes 蔥油餅?! Actually, I do know a few people who don’t eat scallions or shallots….you know who you are (and they probably won’t be reading this post)! My son started off not eating scallions but now he actually likes it. It might be an acquired taste, so keep trying!
In my Pork Chop with Scallion Oil 蔥油豬扒 recipe, I’ll show you how easy this yummy dish is to make. I’ll also give you tips on how to keep your pork chop flat even after cooking and how to get a really nice browning on your pork chops. Although the scallions and shallot play a big role in this dish, there’s another ingredient that really helps to heighten the flavour. Okay, I’ll tell you now….white pepper powder. Without white pepper powder, the flavour is not bad, but after you add it, the flavour is at another level! Top it all off with some sweet soy sauce and fresh rice; life seems quite perfect!
Looking for more Hong Kong style recipes? Check out my Hong Kong Cafe recipe section. I highly recommend the Hong Kong Style Borscht with Oxtail 牛尾羅宋湯, it's one of my favourite soups!
Pork Chop with Scallion Oil 蔥油豬扒
Ingredients
- 900 g Pork chops
- 4 stalks Green onions
- 1 Large shallot
- 1/3 tsp White pepper powder
- ¾ tsp Salt
- 2 tbsp Sweet soy sauce
- 6 tbsp Oil
Ingredients for marinade:
- 2 tsp Light soy sauce
- 1 tsp Oyster sauce
- 1 tsp Dark soy sauce
- ½ tsp Sugar
- ¼ tsp White pepper powder
- 2 tsp Corn starch
- 1 Egg
Instructions
- Wipe or rinse off any bone residue from the pork chops and tenderize with the dull edge of a cleaver or pound with a meat tenderizer
- Make 2-3 indent cuts on the edge of the pork chop to prevent curling during frying
- Make marinade by mixing together 2 tsp light soy sauce, 1 tsp oyster sauce, 1 tsp dark soy sauce, ½ tsp sugar, ¼ tsp white pepper powder, 2 tsp corn starch and one egg. Mix well
The egg will not only help tenderize the pork, it’ll also help to give your pork chop a nice golden brown colour after frying - Marinate pork chops in the marinade for approx. 1 hour
marinate over night for more flavourful pork chops - Slice shallots and chop green onions. The whites of the green onions are put with the shallots. The green parts keep separately
- In a pan, add 2 tbsp oil. Add shallots. Fry on medium heat until shallots turn golden colour
- Turn off heat and add the green parts of the green onion. Mix well. Remove from heat and set aside
- In a pan or skillet, on medium-high heat, add 2 tbsp oil
- Add pork chops to the pan. Fry one side for approx. 3-4 minutes or until golden brown
frying time depends on the thickness of the pork. Mine were approximately 10mm thick 
- Flip over and fry the other side until golden brown or until pork chop is fully cooked
- Add scallion oil, remove from pan and drizzle with 2 tbsp sweet soy sauce
Alternatively, you can add the scallion oil after you put the pork chops on the serving plate 
- Serve
I followed your recipe but used deboned chicken thigh, it came out looking and tasting great. I'll be making this again and trying different proteins as it seems like a very versatile dish.
And thank you for putting pictures after each step! It was really helpful to follow along visually - I always struggle with just text based recipes.