This recipe was inspired by Vietnamese and Thai dishes that feature copious amounts of fresh herbs. It’s so yummy, I call it my pork chop recipe for people who don’t like pork chops.

The secret to cooking this right is making sure the pork chops are thin sliced and cooked on high heat. By cooking them fast, a lot of moisture is retained. I find that the bone-in pork chops turn out juicer than the boneless pork chops.

The layering of cilantro-green onion came about when experimenting with adding green onion to stir fries. I found that any amount of cooking the green onion really took away the fresh green onion flavor. I found that putting the chopped green onions in the hot cooked food to be the best way to maintain that special green onion flavor.

On occasion, when out of cilantro, I make these chops with just green onion, and they turn out quite yummy too.

  • Yield: 2-3 servings
  • Difficulty: Medium
  • Total: 20 min
  • Active: 20 min

Ingredients (7)

  • 5-6 thin sliced pork chops (~1/4 inch thick)
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 4 Tbsp olive oil (or cooking oil)
  • 4 green onions
  • 1 cup cilantro
  • 1/2 cup soy sauce
  • 1 Tbsp black pepper

Instructions

  1. Sprinkle pepper over both sides of the pork chops. Make a little incision on the fat surrounding the pork chops so that it doesn’t curl up when cooked.
  2. Place pork chops in a bowl and let them soak in the soy sauce.
  3. Finely chop the cilantro and green onion. Place in a bowl. Have a plate next to it to hold the cooked pork chops. Place a thin “pork chop” sized layer of cilantro-green onion mix onto the plate.
  4. Crush the garlic cloves with a spatula and peel off the skin.
  5. Add half the garlic and half the olive oil (cooking oil) and heat on high in a wok. I find that a wok results in a better “do” on the chops than using a flat skillet. Swirl around the oil and wait until it starts to smoke. Usually less than a minute.
  6. Add 3 pork chops to the wok or skillet. A splatter guard comes in handy here. Arrange the chops so that the bones all centered in the middle of the wok and cooking in the oil.
  7. After about 30-45 seconds on high heat, rearrange the chops so now the round parts of the chops are centered in the middle of the wok, and cooking in the oil.
  8. After about 45 seconds to a minute, flip the chops over. The chops should appear lightly browned on the cooked side. Once again, arrange them so the bones are centered in the middle.
  9. After another 45 seconds or so, arrange the chops so the round parts of the chops are centered in the wok and soaking in the oil.
  10. After about 45 seconds to a minute, the chops should be finished cooking. Take the wok off the heat.
  11. Place the first pork chop on the plate containing the cilantro-green onion mix. Sprinkle more cilantro-green onion mix on top of the chop and then “sandwich” it by placing the second pork chop on top of the first. Sprinkle more cilantro-green onion mix on top of the second pork chop and then place the third chop on top of that. Sprinkle some more of the cilantro-green onion mix on top of the third chop.
  12. Repeat steps 5-11 for the remaining chops. The reason the chops need to be cooked in small batches of max 3 at a time is because they need to cook quickly on high heat. Adding too many chops at once means they have to be cooked longer, which makes them tough and dry.
  13. You’re ready to serve the chops! Goes well with sauteed spinach (or other stir fried veggie) that is cooked in the hot savory oil left over from the chops. Steamed rice is a nice accompaniment.