The Most Healthy Baked Lean Pork Chop Recipe – Honey Pork Chop
Compared to grill or deep-fry, baking makes our kitchen life much easier. This honey pork chop recipe is an authentic Chinese food recipe good for beginners or baking lovers. The key ingredient in this recipe is honey. When heated at 50 °C (122 °F), honey sugars start the caramelizing process and turn from a light color to a dark color as the temperature rises. Honey becomes a natural coloring agent for the pork chop. I also like to use honey as a natural sweetener when making steamed pumpkin, best served with Mapo bean curd szechuan style or moo goo gi pan chicken.
With a healthy diet in mind, you should choose lean pork cuts and trim away excess fat. Studies have shown that saturated fat can cause the release of a stress hormone called “cortisol”, which causes fat to be stored in the body, especially the belly part. While chicken is believed as a great source of lean protein, pork is continuously marked as “the other white meat”. Companies in the industry have found that leaner pork sells at a higher price. Producers are more tech and health savvy. They start to utilize ultrasonic technology to monitor the fat and protein level of a pig. Quite interesting, right?
For any four-legged animal, loin is almost always the part where leanest cuts come from. Look for cuts of meat with the name sirloin or tenderloin when shopping at the meat section. Pork chop tends to contain most fat. But as I mentioned earlier, you can trim it before or after cooking. It’s fairly easy to do. But if you crave for sweet and sour pork spareribs or steamed pork ribs with black bean, how do you get rid of the extra fat?
The secret is to cook one day prior to when you want to eat it and store in the refrigerator overnight. You’ll find the next day that all fat has risen to the top. Your job is to scrape it and reheat. This way you get the same satisfaction without actually eating the fat. Now let’s get started to make this super simple baked pork chop!
Ingredients:
pork ribs 3
five-spice powder
chili powder
cumin powder
black pepper powder
Szechuan peppercorn powder
salt
honey 2 tbsp
hoisin sauce 2 tbsp
soy sauce 2 tbsp
olive oil 1 tbsp
(An ultimate introductory list of essential Chinese ingredients)
Steps:
1. Wash pork ribs with hot water.
2. Mix five-spice powder, chili powder, cumin powder, black pepper powder, Sichuanese pepper corn, salt, hoisin sauce, and soy sauce in a large bowl.
3. Use brush to apply the seasoning on the ribs a few times.
4. Wrap the ribs in plastic wrap and put into storage bags. Marinate in the refrigerator for a day.
5. When ready to cook, brush honey and olive oil on ribs. Wrap with aluminum foil and put inside the oven.
6. Use 200-degree oven for about 15 minutes.
7. Remove and brush honey and seafood sauce. Switch sides and bake for another 10 minutes.
9. Remove and apply honey and hoisin sauce again. Bake for 10 another minutes using 180 degrees.
Ready to serve!