Uploaded December 2020 | Updated September 2026, 1 day ago
One of my favorite Vietnamese restaurant meals is the pork chop on rice with a fried egg on top. Usually it comes with a bit of salad next to it, and some sauce, possibly even other goodies made from pork. In this recipe we focus just on making the marinade for the pork. The flavor seems quite accurate.
To get a properly-cooked sunny-side-up egg to go on top of the pork, put it into a hot skillet about the same time as the pork chop over heat that is about even or slightly high for cooking eggs.
We usually eat this with a salad based on the cabbecha recipe, but without any meat added to it. Instead, I use escabeche, from another of our recipes. If there is fresh tomato around, I add some of that. This is not especially an authentic accompaniment to the pork chop in a Vietnamese restaurant, but it tastes awesome and is made of things which keep well.
Makes enough for 6-8 people/meals.
Equipment:
• small, sturdy, clean skillet, or broad meat mallet
• large resealable bag or double sheet of plastic wrap, to wrap meat for pounding
• large resealable bags or reusable containers to hold marinating meat
• food processor or stout blender
• large mixing bowl
Ingredients:
2 lb pork we prefer boneless center-cut loin chops
2-6 Tbsp lemongrass use as much as you like, almost
6 cloves garlic
4 ea shallots
2 Tbsp fish sauce Vietnamese
1 1/2 Tbsp light soy sauce
1 Tbsp honey or brown sugar
1/2 tsp MSG or chicken powder optional
1/4 tsp molasses eyeball it; molasses is awful to measure
1/4 tsp black pepper freshly ground
Procedure:
1. Using a food processor or serious blender, puree all but the meat.
2. If using conventional chops, butterfly them. Some butchers may be able to cut the loin into thin cutlets, which might be preferable.
3. One or two at a time, place the cutlets or butterflied chops into a bag (the same bag each time) and pound them a bit thinner.
4. Place the meat in a large mixing bowl as it is pounded.
5. Coat the meat in the aromatic puree. It will probably not smell excellent.
6. Let the meat marinate for a day if possible, or at least 4 hours.
7. Sear the meat on hot cast iron, or put it on an actual grill. Use high heat so the thin meat will cook quickly.
8. The meat will turn very dark in some places as it cooks; this is normal, but the finished product should not be charred all over.
9. Serve the chops atop rice (broken rice is traditional but I don’t keep it; I usually use short-grain rice instead), with a side-salad (the cabbecha dressing works well), some tomato and/or cucumber, and a sunny-side-up egg on top of the pork.
Music: bensound.com/royalty-free-music
One of my favorite Vietnamese restaurant meals is the pork chop on rice with a fried egg on top. Usually it comes with a bit of salad next to it, and some sauce, possibly even other goodies made from pork. In this recipe we focus just on making the marinade for the pork. The flavor seems quite accurate.
To get a properly-cooked sunny-side-up egg to go on top of the pork, put it into a hot skillet about the same time as the pork chop over heat that is about even or slightly high for cooking eggs.
We usually eat this with a salad based on the cabbecha recipe, but without any meat added to it. Instead, I use escabeche, from another of our recipes. If there is fresh tomato around, I add some of that. This is not especially an authentic accompaniment to the pork chop in a Vietnamese restaurant, but it tastes awesome and is made of things which keep well.
Makes enough for 6-8 people/meals.
Equipment:
• small, sturdy, clean skillet, or broad meat mallet
• large resealable bag or double sheet of plastic wrap, to wrap meat for pounding
• large resealable bags or reusable containers to hold marinating meat
• food processor or stout blender
• large mixing bowl
Ingredients:
2 lb pork we prefer boneless center-cut loin chops
2-6 Tbsp lemongrass use as much as you like, almost
6 cloves garlic
4 ea shallots
2 Tbsp fish sauce Vietnamese
1 1/2 Tbsp light soy sauce
1 Tbsp honey or brown sugar
1/2 tsp MSG or chicken powder optional
1/4 tsp molasses eyeball it; molasses is awful to measure
1/4 tsp black pepper freshly ground
Procedure:
1. Using a food processor or serious blender, puree all but the meat.
2. If using conventional chops, butterfly them. Some butchers may be able to cut the loin into thin cutlets, which might be preferable.
3. One or two at a time, place the cutlets or butterflied chops into a bag (the same bag each time) and pound them a bit thinner.
4. Place the meat in a large mixing bowl as it is pounded.
5. Coat the meat in the aromatic puree. It will probably not smell excellent.
6. Let the meat marinate for a day if possible, or at least 4 hours.
7. Sear the meat on hot cast iron, or put it on an actual grill. Use high heat so the thin meat will cook quickly.
8. The meat will turn very dark in some places as it cooks; this is normal, but the finished product should not be charred all over.
9. Serve the chops atop rice (broken rice is traditional but I don’t keep it; I usually use short-grain rice instead), with a side-salad (the cabbecha dressing works well), some tomato and/or cucumber, and a sunny-side-up egg on top of the pork.
Music: bensound.com/royalty-free-music
