Pork Rib Chop in Tomato and Pineapple Sauce (Hong Kong style)

It is very common to find this dish in Cha Chaan Teng (tea restaurant) in Hong Kong.  Sometimes it is baked with a piece of cheese on top when it is served in some fast food restaurants like Café de Coral (Hong Kong). 

My mom loved cooking this dish for me when I was young, I love her juicy and tender pork chops.  It is not difficult to make this dish but the key to cook a truly wonderful pork chop is to buy the correct cut of meat.  I prefer buying the thin cuts of pork rib chop and trim the fat off.  Then I use the back of a Chinese Cleaver instead of a meat mallet to make the pork chops become tender.  I like using fruit juice as one of the seasonings, especially pineapple juice.  The best way to cook it juicy is to cook it over low heat.  Let us have a dish of juicy and tender pork rib chops and serve with a bowl of jasmine rice.

Preparation time: 5 minutes

Cooking time: 30 minutes

Serve: 2

Ingredients:

-      500g pork rib chop

-      300g tomato (sliced)

-      180g onion (finely sliced)

-      60g pineapple pieces (canned pineapple)

-      2 garlic clove (finely chopped)

-      1 shallot (finely chopped)

-      ½ spring onion (finely chopped)

-      1½ tsp olive oil     

-      20g sugar

-      100ml water

-      ¼ tsp table salt

Seasoning:

-      3 tbsp pineapple juice

-      1½ tbsp light soy sauce

-      ½ tsp brown sugar

-      1 tsp corn flour

-      1 tbsp Shaoxing wine

-      1 tsp ginger

-      a pinch of sesame oil

Ketchup Sauce:

-      1 tbsp ketchup

-      1 tbsp brown sugar       

-      1 tsp light soy sauce

Thickening Sauce:

-      1 tsp corn flour

-      1 tsp water

Method:

1.	Pound the chops lightly with the smooth side of a meat mallet or the back of Chinese Cleaver. This parts the muscle fibers slightly, tenderizing the pork.  Season the pork chops with pineapple juice, soy sauce, ginger, corn flour, sugar, Shaoxing wine and sesame oil for 15 minutes and set aside.
2.	In a small mixing bowl, mix all the ingredients of the ketchup sauce well.
3.	Heat a non-stick pan with 1 tsp olive oil over medium heat.  Pan-fry one side of each pork chop for 1-2 minutes and cover for 3 minutes over a low to medium heat.  Then uncover and pan-fry each side for 1-2 minutes until a bit golden brown.
4.	In the meantime, heat a non-stick wok with ½ tsp olive oil over medium heat.  Add garlic and shallot in the wok and stir-fry for 1 minute.  Then add the onion and stir-fry for 2 minutes.  Place the tomato into the wok and stir-fry for a further 2 minutes. Gradually pour in the water, stir in the ketchup sauce, and bring to boil.
5.	Tip the pork chop and pineapple pieces into the wok and stir-fry for 1-2 minutes. In another small mixing bowl, mix well the corn flour and water.  Stir in the sauce until it becomes thickened.
6.	Garnish with spring onion and ready to serve with rice or spaghetti.