Crispy Skin Pork Chop

Dinner | Australian

Prep time: 15 minutes Cook time: 30 minutes Servings: 3

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 barbecue (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.

Ingredient Notes

Pork chops, skin on: The absolute best way to buy pork chops is from your local butcher. Have a conversation with them and ask for a pork chop taken from the centre of a bone in pork loin. Look for high quality, ideally free-range pork, with a thick cap and dry skin. This is a scenario where quality of produce makes a massive difference to the end result. Make sure you specify skin on chops, because they often come with the skin removed.

Spice rub: The fennel, paprika and cumin combination is just a starting point. Any spice blend you like will work. A good BBQ rub from a bottle is fine. Salt and black pepper alone is also fine. Just make sure whatever you put on stays on the flesh, not the skin. Spices on the skin will burn during the long render.

Equipment

Small sharp knife (paring or boning)
Sharp chef’s knife
Chopping board
6 metal skewers (2 per chop)
Two protein presses or heavy pots
Tongs
BBQ with a flat top griddle (or a large flat pan)
Tray with a wire rack
Meat thermometer

Ingredients

3 large bone-in pork chops, skin on (around 300 to 400g each)
3 tbsp olive oil
sea salt
1 tsp ground fennel
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp ground cumin

Directions

Prep the pork chops
Lay a pork chop flat on a chopping board with the skin facing you. Using a small sharp knife, slice vertically through the skin only every 5mm. You want to cut through the skin and just barely into the fat, not through it. Repeat with the remaining chops.
Stand the chop up so the skin is facing down. Slice between the skin and the flesh, keeping the cut very close to the flesh so most of the fat stays attached to the skin. Slice about a third of the way down from each side, leaving the middle third attached to hold the chop together.
Push two metal skewers through the length of the fat cap, about half a centimetre from the top, parallel to each other. This keeps the skin flat and stops it curling during the cook. Repeat for the remaining chops.
Season
Drizzle the chops with the olive oil and rub all over with your hands. Season the skin generously with sea salt.
Mix the fennel, paprika and cumin together in a small bowl. Sprinkle the spice mix over the flesh on both sides of the chop. Keep the spices off the skin, otherwise they’ll burn during the long render.
Cook the chops
Preheat a flat-top BBQ or large flat pan on low. Once warm, stand the chops upright on the grill with the skin strip flat against the surface. Use two protein presses or heavy pots to lean the chops against to keep them upright.
Cook on low for 20 to 25 minutes, checking and rotating after 10 minutes to maintain an even render. The fat needs time to render properly. If it’s going too slowly, bump the heat to low-medium, but watch closely so the skin doesn’t burn.
Once the skin is evenly blistered, crispy and the fat has rendered, transfer the chops to a tray fitted with a wire rack. Scrape excess fat off the grill.
Turn the grill to high and let it preheat for 2 to 3 minutes. Lay the chops flat on the hot grill flesh side down, with a protein press on top to keep them in contact. Sear for 30 to 45 seconds, then flip and sear the other side. Flip 2 or 3 times until the internal temperature in the thickest part of the loin reaches 70°C (158°F).
Pull the chops off the grill and rest on the wire rack for 10 minutes.
Carve and serve
Slide the skin off the skewers and chop into bite-sized pieces. Carve the loin off the bone and slice into thick pieces.
Reassemble on the plate with the bone, then the loin slices, then the crispy skin pieces on top. Serve immediately while the crackle is at its best.

Recipe notes

Chef Tips

Use a sharp knife on the skin

You want a small, sharp paring or boning knife. If your knife isn’t sharp, sharpen it before you start. The cuts need to go through the skin and just into the fat, not through to the meat. Take your time on this step, it’s the foundation of the whole technique.

Lean the chops against something heavy

The chops need to stand upright on their skin strip for 20 to 25 minutes to get the skin crispy. They’ll fall over on their own. Use two protein presses or heavy pots to lean them against. This also adds a bit of pressure that helps the skin stay flat on the grill for an even render.

Low and slow on the skin, hot and fast on the flesh

Render the skin low and slow. Twenty to twenty-five minutes. Rushing the render gives you chewy skin instead of crackle. Once the skin is done, switch to high heat and sear the flesh side fast. You’re aiming for colour on the outside, not to cook the loin through. The lean has already come up to temperature during the slow render.

Spices on the flesh only

Anything you put on the skin will burn during the long render. Salt is fine because it draws moisture out, but ground spices like paprika and cumin will scorch. Season the flesh side heavily with whatever spices you fancy, the skin with just salt. The flavour from the spices travels into the meat as it cooks anyway.

Storage

The pork keeps in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Let it cool to room temperature before covering. The crackle will soften on storage and there’s no real way to get it back, so this dish is genuinely best served fresh. Any leftover pork is great chopped into a fried rice or a salad the next day.

FAQs

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.

What should I serve with this? This is rich, fatty pork, so it needs something crisp and acidic to balance. A pearl barley salad with herbs and lemon is brilliant, so is creamy mashed potato. Pickled red onions, a sharp coleslaw, or any sort of mustard-based dressing all cut through nicely.

Can I use boneless pork chops? Not really for this technique. The bone helps the chops stand upright on the grill, and without it you can’t skewer the skin into a flat strip in the same way. If you’re stuck with boneless, you’re better off cooking them flat in a hot pan and skipping this method.