Personally,
I feel that one of the greatest inventions by the Singapore Hainanese chefs is Hainanese
Pork Chops. From the European households whom most of the chefs worked for, they
learnt how to use foreign sauces such as HP sauce, Lea & Perrins sauce, and
the wonders of roux as thickener in making sauces.
While
the British were used to apple sauce and mustard as accompaniments to their pork
chops, the Hainanese substituted these with HP sauce and Lea & Perrins, as
they agreed better with their taste buds.
Over
the years, Hainanese pork chops would undergo further changes to make it even
more appealing to the Chinese rather than the Caucasians. That included the use
of ketchup as the key ingredient in the sauce. And bread crumbs or Jacob’s
crumbs – one of the original ingredients – also disappeared from the recipe in
most restaurants.
The
recipe I’m trying to replicate here is much closer to the version I was brought
up on in the 60s, the version that was served at most coffee houses and
Hainanese restaurants.
Hainanese Pork Chops
Pork
chop 6
slices, about ¾ cm thick each
Flour 2
cups
Egg 2,
lightly beaten
Bread
crumbs/ Jacob’s crumbs 2 cups
Oil 3
cups
Potato 2,
cut into chunks
Mixed
vegetables 1
cup
Marinade:
Oyster
sauce 1
tbsp
HP
sauce ½ tsp
Pepper ¼ tsp
Corn
flour 1
tsp
Sauce:
Butter 3
tbsp
AP
flour 3
tbsp
HP
sauce 4
tbp
Lea
& Perrins 3
tbsp
Meat
stock ¼ cup
Pepper a dash
Salt ¼ tsp
Sugar 2
tbsp
Method:
1. Use a heavy mallet to break up
the muscle fibers of the pork chops.
2. Rub marinade into the pork and
chill for at least 30 mins.
3. Dust pork chops with flour, soak
the meat thoroughly with egg mixture, dust with bread crumbs. Put it aside to
rest for 5 minutes. This step will prevent excessive crumbs from falling off
the meat during deep frying.
4. Deep fry pork chops until both
sides turn golden brown. Drain off the oil and slice into ½ cm thick. Place it on the
serving plate.
5. Boil potato until it is cooked.
Drain and shake off the water completely. This step will create uneven surfaces
on the potato, which will give the chips extra crisp. Deep fry the potato chips
until golden brown. Drain and transfer to the serving plate.
6. Pour sauce generously over the pork
chops and serve immediately.
Sauce:
1. Melt butter over medium heat.
Saute mixed vegetables for 1 min.
2. Add flour and cook for another 1
to 2 mins to create a roux.
3. Add the rest of the sauce
ingredients gradually and whisk until the sauce thickens.
4. The sauce should not be too
thick. If it is too thickened, add some stock to dilute it. Adjust the taste
with salt and sugar.
5. Set aside and keep warm.