Pork Chop with Homemade Ketchup

Dinner | Australian

Prep time: 20 min Cook time: 55 min Servings: 2

I think pork chops get overlooked as a great option for your weekly or weekend dinners. In this recipe, we’re going to use Chef Khanh Nguyen pork chop technique to score and cook the pork on the BBQ. If you don’t have a BBQ, you can do this in a cast iron pan on the stove.

I score the skin and skewer it flat so it doesn’t curl up in the pan, then cook the whole chop slowly in a low oven first so the inside stays moist all the way through. Once it’s cooked, it goes onto a hot flat plate with something heavy pressing down (like a protein press) on the skin until it gets really crispy.

If you want to try a new way to cook your pork, give this a go.

The ketchup is made from candied pine cones, which are small pine cones preserved in syrup. They’re a specialty ingredient and add an earthy, slightly sweet flavour to the sauce that you can’t really replicate with anything else. It all gets cooked down with onion, apple, vinegar and brown sugar then blended smooth. If you can’t find candied pine cones, try pickled walnuts in syrup or you could use dried sour cherries. The grilled peach salad with stracciatella rounds the dish out with freshness and cuts through the richness of the pork.

You can take one or all elements of this recipe.

Ingredient Notes

Pork chops, skin on: Skin-on pork chops are essential for this technique. The skin and fat cap are scored and skewered flat so they can be pressed evenly against the hot plate and develop a proper crunch. Without the skin, the visual and textural contrast that makes this dish work is lost. Ask your butcher for chops with the tomahawk bone in for the full presentation, and specify that you want the skin left on. Most butchers will be happy to do this if you call ahead.

Candied mini pine cones in syrup: These are a specialty ingredient available from European delis, good farmers markets, and online. They have a resinous, slightly floral character and a gentle sweetness that gives the ketchup its distinctive quality. If you can’t find them, pickled walnuts in syrup are the best substitute as they have a similar complex, tannic quality that works well against the apple and tamarind. You could also use dried sour cherries.

Stracciatella: Stracciatella is the creamy inner filling of burrata: shredded mozzarella curd mixed with cream. It’s rich, loose, and milky, and it settles beautifully over warm grilled peaches. Look for it at good Italian delis or cheese shops. If you can’t find it, tear open a fresh burrata or pull buffalo mozzarella into pieces. Avoid regular cow’s milk mozzarella if possible as the flavour is too mild and the texture too firm for this salad.

Equipment

Chopping board
Chef’s knife
Sharp paring knife
6 metal skewers (3 per chop)
BBQ with lid, or oven
Cast iron flat plate or heavy-based frying pan
Protein press or second heavy pan (for pressing)
Saucepan or saucier
Blender or stick blender
Tongs
Wire rack with tray

Ingredients

Pork chop
2 pork chops, skin on
1 tbsp olive oil
sea salt and white pepper, for seasoning
Pinecone Ketchup
100g candied mini pine cones in syrup (or pickled walnuts)
2 whole cloves
50g tamarind paste
80ml (⅓ cup) apple cider vinegar
2 brown onions, chopped
5 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 green apple, peeled and diced
50g brown sugar
200ml water
50ml worcestershire sauce
salt and pepper, to season
Grilled Peach Salad
4 peaches, halved and seeded
1 tbsp olive oil
Sea salt, to season
60g mixed leaf lettuce
½ bunch basil leaves
125g stracciatella cheese
Aged balsamic vinegar, to serve

Directions

Prep the pork
Using a sharp knife, score the fat cap and the skin in 5mm (0.2in) slits. Slice the fat cap and skin layer away from the curved ends of the bone, leaving it just attached in the middle.
Sit the chop skin side down on a board so the skin and fat is flat. Thread two metal skewers through the fat layer of each chop from one end, then a third skewer from the other end. This will keep the skin flat when grilling.
Drizzle the chops with the oil and season with salt and white pepper on both sides.
Cook the pork
Preheat your BBQ with a lid to 140°C (285°F) only using 1 burner, or preheat your oven to 140°C (285°F).
Place the pork on the resting rack on the other side of the BBQ away from the heat and close the lid. Cook for 40 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches 65°C (150°F). *You can start the ketchup during this time.
Turn the burners up to high heat and place a flat plate over the grill. Place the pork, skin side down, on the flat plate and cook for 10-12 minutes, with the lid down, until you have a golden, crunchy skin. *Make the peach salad during this time.
Turn the chops on their side and cook with a protein press on for 1-2 minutes on each side, until well browned. Transfer to a wire rack over a tray to rest.
Make the ketchup
Combine the pinecones, cloves, tamarind, vinegar, onions, garlic, apples, sugar and water in a saucier or large saucepan. Season with salt and pepper and place over medium-high heat and bring to a boil, stirring.
Reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the apples and onions have softened and mixture has reduced down to a darker colour.
Stir in the worcestershire sauce and remove from the heat. Transfer the mixture to a blender and process until smooth.
Make the peach salad
Heat the BBQ grill plates over high heat.
Drizzle the peaches with the oil and season with some salt. Place the peaches flesh side down on the grill and cook for 3-4 minutes, until charred.
Set the peaches aside to cool for 5 minutes. Place the lettuce and basil in a serving bowl and top with the peaches. Dollop with the stracciatella and drizzle with some balsamic glaze.
Finish and serve
Slice the pork meat off the bone and carve thinly. Remove the skewers from the skin and chop up into pieces.
Place the bone on a serving plate, then the pork meat back in place around the bone and the crispy skin around the meat.
Add a dollop of the ketchup on the side, then serve with the peach salad on the side.

Recipe notes

Equipment

You'll need some metal skewers for this recipe. I have also used my protein press, but you can just use a heavy based pan like a cast iron.

Cook support

Take your time scoring the skin. Shallow, even cuts help the fat render and give you better crackling.

If you need some extra support on this cooking method, I highly recommend you check out Chef Khanh Nguyens video -https://www.instagram.com/reel/DNSdNx5T9e9/

If the ketchup feels too thick after blending, loosen it with a splash of water or vinegar while warm.

Storage

The ketchup keeps well for up to 2 weeks in a sterilised jar in the fridge. The pork chops are best cooked and served fresh. If you want to get ahead, score, skewer and season the chops up to 24 hours in advance and leave them uncovered in the fridge. The air circulation dries the skin out slightly, which actually improves crisping when it hits the hot plate. Assemble and dress the peach salad right before serving.

FAQs

Can I make the ketchup ahead of time? Yes, and I’d encourage it. The ketchup improves after a day in the fridge as the flavours settle and deepen. Make it up to a week ahead and store it in a sterilised jar. It also works well with other grilled meats and is worth making a full batch of whenever you track down the pine cones.

Can I cook this on the stovetop instead of a BBQ? Absolutely. The low and slow stage can be done in an oven at 140°C on a wire rack. For the high heat finish, use a cast iron flat plate or heavy-based pan on the stovetop and get it ripping hot before the chops go in. A protein press or a second heavy pan placed on top of the fat cap will give you the same result as the BBQ method. The technique is the same regardless of the heat source.

Can I use a different fruit in the salad? Peaches are my first choice when they’re in season, but nectarines work just as well and grill in exactly the same way. Figs are also excellent halved and charred on the grill. You want a fruit with enough natural sugar to caramelise on contact with the hot grill and enough acidity to cut through the richness of the stracciatella and the pork.