Suon Nuong (Vietnamese Pork Chops)
Three of these ultra-thin ¼"-thick pork chops for this dish, flavored with a caramel-lemongrass marinade, can be cut from one hefty American-style pork chop. This recipe first appeared in the 2012 SAVEUR 100, with the story Vietnamese Pork Chops.
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Credit: Todd Coleman
INGREDIENTS
½ cup plus 2 tbsp. sugar⅓ cup thinly sliced shallots
¼ cup thinly sliced lemongrass
2 tbsp. peanut oil
2 tbsp. soy sauce
1½ tbsp. fish sauce (available at Red Boat)
1 tbsp. ground black pepper
8 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 lb. ¼″-thick pork blade chops, pounded thin
Cooked white rice and nuoc cham (Vietnamese chili-garlic sauce), for serving
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Heat ½ cup of sugar in a 1-qt. heavy bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat, swirling pan often, until sugar dissolves and turns to liquid caramel. Remove from heat; add ¼ cup boiling water. Return pan to heat; cook, swirling pan gently, until caramel dissolves in water. Remove from heat and let cool. Transfer to a food processor along with remaining sugar, shallots, lemongrass, oil, soy sauce, fish sauce, pepper, and garlic; purée until smooth. Place pork chops in a 9″ × 13″ baking dish and pour over purée; cover with plastic wrap and chill at least 1 hour or overnight.2. Heat a 12″ cast-iron grill pan over high heat. Working in batches, add chops; cook, turning once, until charred in spots and cooked through, about 2 minutes. Serve immediately with rice and chili-garlic sauce.
 Recipe - Saveur.com){kind=link}
Cheers,
Bloefeld