[食譜] Balsamic Glazed Pork Chops

Epicurious Recipe: Balsamic Glazed Pork Chops

Story Background: I read this recipe while I was on the plane on my way to Singapore. This sounded like a delicious recipe, and so I scribbled it down on a piece of paper. My notes were horrible though, so I was a little bit worried. But to my pleasant surprise, after surfing around on the Internet for a little bit, I found the recipe online at Epicurious.

The Problem: Reading some of the reviews, the biggest complaint was by far, the fact that the pork chop was too dry. In the recipe, you had to cook the pork twice. The first time, to cook it all the way through, and the second time, to glaze it in sauce. Cooking pork twice generally meant very dry pork.

Due Diligence: I remember a radio cooking show I use to listen to back in Los Angeles called Melinda Lee. Melinda was a big fan of brining meats. One of the reviewers of the recipe suggested brining, and so I did some searching online, and found This Pork Brining Recipe. The last thing I wanted was dry pork. Pork should be juicy and flavorful, not cooked until it's like 新東陽肉乾.

Brine:


Brine is basically salt water. Here, you can see that I smashed some peppercorns as well as added some italian seasoning to the brine. Later on (not shown in the picture) I also added some smashed garlic to give it a little bit more flavor.



I put the meat into the brine. The meat started to float.



So I put a plate on top to prevent it from floating; making sure all of the meat was under water. I put some saran wrap on top of it, and put it in the refrigerator. The brining recipe said 12-24 hours. I put it in at 9am intending for a 7pm dinner. The chops weren't that thick, so I thought 10 hours it was a sufficient amount of time.

Shallots (紅蔥頭):


Shallots are wonderful things. Here in Taiwan however, shallots are generally only used as 爆油蔥, which is a shame. They work really well with quite a few things. For those of you who've never seen shallots, here's a few bulbs next to some garlic for size, shape, and color comparison.



Here is what they look like close up.



This is what they look like peeled. The recipe called for the roots to be intact, so I didn't remove them.



Here are the shallots and garlic, roughly quartered.



Into the magical cast iron skillet!! I really wish you could smell food through the Internet, you can't image how good this smells!!



Onions, garlic, shallots all have enzymes (酵素) that are natural meat tenderizers. Cast Iron maintains it's heat extremely well, so when you throw cold meat onto it, it doesn't get cold. Couple that with the fact that brined meat cooks faster; and it means your meat is cooked in no-time!!



Remove the meat once both sides are cooked. Put it on a plate to let it rest.

The Sauce:


After the meat was removed, I stir fried the shallots and garlic a little bit more. I cooked them until they were all translucent 半透明.

Balsamic Vinegar:


I bought this bottle of balsamic vinegar at the Sogo German Expo last year. The quality is good, but the flavor is just ok. (Good) Balsamic Vinegar is one of the most expensive items on earth. I poured the balsamic vinegar into the skillet with the shallots and garlic; threw the pork back into it, and flipped it around a few times. and the results..



Wicked Delicious!!


The balsamic vinegar caramelized a little bit, giving the shallots and garlic a slight sweet glaze, as well as to the pork.

But wait, I know what you are thinking, is the pork really dry? Did the sauce really get sucked into the meat??



The pork is juicy and flavorful. But I know I know, you are all use to watching 料理東西軍, and you are asking, if the meat is so juicy, why don't I see the juice running out? When you cook meat, you are always suppose to let it rest. Meat is porous (有毛孔) and so if you let it rest for a few minutes after you cook it, it will suck all the juices back into the meat. Meat that covers the entire plate with juice, is not juicy and moist because all the juice is on the plate, not in the meat!! That's just for TV shows, not for eating.

Side Dishes:

For the side dishes, I prepared 2: Asparagus, and Mashed Potatoes.

Asparagus:


Asparagus lightly steamed, tastes good and is good for you.


Potatoes:


I originally was looking for American Russet Potatoes, but I couldn't find them and had to settle for Taiwanese potatoes. Oh well. The Taiwanese potatoes, while good for stir-frying, wasn't that great for mashed potatoes.



Here they are, washed and cleaned. Into the steamer basket of the pressure cooker.

Potato Ricer:


If you are serious about mashed potatoes, then you need one of these: a Potato Ricer.. end of story, no and's if's or but's. End of discussion. A potato ricer makes your mashed potatoes as fluffy as cotton candy. Right now, you are asking yourself, where can I buy one in Taiwan??? Good question. You can custom order one from the Japanese store on the 6th floor of Breeze Center, you can buy one from the Ikea in 桃園. Or, you can buy it from the Silit importer like I did in 西門町. $1850NT+ Ouch..




Here it is in the open configuration. It's like a garlic press, except it's big enough to fit a potato.



Throw the potato in and press! You can have the skin off or on, it will deskin for you.



And this is what it looks like coming out the other end.



Throw some Echire Butter into it, mix mix mix, and you have great mashed potatoes!


The Beer:

This is a Schoefferhofer Hefeweizen.

I usually don't drink beer, but when I do, I only drink Hefeweizen's. Hefeweizen is a top fermented, unfiltered, bottle conditioned wheat beer with a noticeable yeast sediment and a cloudy appearance. I really enjoy the wheat beers more. I wish there were more wheat beers in Taiwan. I bought the last two from Breeze Super.



The bubbles from this beer are very small and smooth. You can see that the beer is a little bit cloudy. It is fruity with a hint of cloves. I really enjoy it with a twist of lime in it. The finish is clean and refreshing, not heavy at all. (Anybody want to 和購 this beer with me??) This is the perfect drink to compliment the meal.



So there you go, Balsamic Vinegar Glazed Pork Chop with Asparagus, Mashed Potatoes, and a Hefeweizen.