Hong Kong Baked Pork Chop Rice

Who else loves a Hong Kong Diner?

Allegedly it’s going to be 2025 in a few days and I’m over here confused about what day of the week it is. The second half of December has felt like both a time warp and emotional roller coaster. I’ve had this pork chop recipe queued up since then… but I hopped on a red eye to Cleveland for the holidays and physically/mentally couldn’t manage to open up my laptop again. I accepted the mandatory rest and told myself that people will still want to make Hong Kong Baked Pork Chop Rice in January (or any month of the year). I hope that’s true! There’s so much pressure to show up on our screens but some of the most important life moments happen offline.

During my time somewhat offline, I baked, cooked, and ate a lot at parents’ in Cleveland, very typical. My family’s cooking is always so inspiring to me, so I have a few recipe idea nuggets that I’m taking with me into 2025. Does it count as snooping if it’s in your childhood bedroom? I decided to explore the depths of my desk and found an abundance of notes and relics from my youth that were both sweet and cringey and I spent hours laugh-crying. What I uncovered is too embarrassing to ever share with a digital footprint, so here’s my Wicked playbill from 2006. Last year, Reuben and I took my family to their first Cavs game, so we went again this year and now it’s officially a holiday tradition! It’s the one time a year I can easily acquire Dippin’ Dots, which I’m elated about. My best friend from college moved to the East Bay and now we live 15 minutes from each other so it’s a dream come true! (Hi, Katie!) I’m slowly taking her to all my favorite places so she decides to never leave. I’m planning on leaving the Christmas lights up for as seasonally possible because the holidays didn’t feel long enough to me.

Hope you had a peaceful and restful holiday 🧡

Hong Kong Diner… a series?

I love a prompt, a theme, something that gives creativity direction. Two years ago I was having a lot of fun making recipes for Dim Sumdays and this year I looked forward to playing around with dough for Bun of the Month. But I end up getting a little burnt out and it no longer felt fun, but more like a task I have to check off. That’s when I know I have to switch things up. Hong Kong Diners or cha chaan tengs are full of nostalgic comfort foods. Bo Lo Bao with cold butter and a iced lemon tea, spam and macaroni soup, HK french toasted, instant ramen with beef tendon, silky egg sandwiches! I could go on forever. I’m hoping to go with my Dad again to Hong Kong this year and bring Reuben with me for his first time! If we make it happen you know there will be plenty of diner meals on the agenda. If this sounds like a fun series you would be interested in leave a comment and let me know!

Fundamentals of Hong Kong Baked Pork Chop Rice

A top tier Hong Kong diner meal includes baked pork chop rice. My parents made a version of it for me when I last visited them in October and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since. By definition I think you could consider it a casserole of sorts. It consists of 4 crucial elements layered on top of each other:

1. fried rice - I like an egg fried rice with some vegetables mixed in for some health points. Make your rice the day before or earlier in the day so it has time to chill. For an easier option, you can order Chinese take out the day before and save some of the rice!

2. seared or battered and fried pork chop - I prefer a simple seared thick pork chop because you can use the same pan and pork fat to make your fried rice. Less pans and more flavor. Other versions exist where the pork chops are thinner, battered, and deep fried. DELICIOUS. But I’m not going to make you deep fry as part of this already long-ish recipe. I intentionally slightly undercook the pork chop because it continues to bake in the oven and an overcooked, tough pork chop is just sad.

3. tomato sauce - the tomato sauce at hong kong diners are sweeter, leaning heavily on ketchup, so a jarred tomato sauce doesn’t quite have the same effect. This sauce starts off similarly to my tomato egg recipe, with roma tomatoes (which you can get all year, even in winter, and they are perfectly great) and ginger for a low level heat. The sauce naturally reduces into jammy tomato sauce that’s sweetened slightly and seasoned with oyster sauce.

4. melty cheese - not much to say here other than I wish you many a cheese pulls when you make this!

Yes, it’s a labor intensive recipe that requires you to make multiple components, but aren’t recipes like this designed for the winter? When you have extra time in the kitchen and want to fill your space with warmth from burners going and a running oven while it smells like Italian and Chinese food?

Happy New Year! See you on the other side!

Hong Kong Baked Pork Chop Rice

Serves 4

Hong Kong Baked Pork Chop Rice

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For the Pork Chop:

1 1/4 lb bone-in pork chops, thick cut

1 1/2 tsp coarse salt

3/4 tsp black pepper

2 tbsp avocado oil

For the Tomato Sauce:

2 tbsp olive oil

4 to 5 (550g) large roma tomatoes, roughly chopped

2” piece of ginger, minced or julienned (depending on the texture you like!)

1 tbsp oyster sauce

1 tsp coarse salt

1/2 tsp sugar

1/4 tsp white pepper

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

For the Fried Rice:

2 tbsp avocado oil

3 to 5 green onions, thinly sliced with whites and green separated

4 cloves garlic, minced

4 cups of cooked and chilled jasmine rice

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tsp sesame oil

1/2 tsp coarse salt

1/2 tsp white pepper

3 to 4 large eggs, whisked

1/2 cup frozen edamame, peas, or mixed vegetables

6 oz low moisture mozzarella, shredded

1. Pat the pork chop dry and season both sides with salt and pepper. Allow the pork chop to sit for about 30 minutes to remove the chill and get up to room temperature.

2. To make the sauce, heat olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add the tomatoes and ginger and continue to cook until starting to break down and soften, 4 to 6 minutes, stirring and pressing down on the tomates with the back of a spatula occasionally. Stir in the oyster sauce, salt, sugar, white pepper, and red pepper flakes and continue to simmer the sauce until thick and jammy, stirring often, 4 to 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and loosely cover with a lid to keep warm.

3. Preheat the oven to 400 F degrees.

4. In a large cast iron pan, heat avocado oil over medium high heat. Once the pan is very hot, add the pork chops and sear until the underside is deeply golden brown, 4 to 5 minutes, making sure to press down on the meat for an even sear. Flip and sear the other side until deeply golden brown, 4 to 5 minutes. The internal temp should be about 150F degrees which is just slightly underdone, it will finish cooking when in the oven. Transfer the pork chop to a cutting board and allow it to rest while you make the fried rice.

5. In the same pan you made the pork chop in, no need to clean, heat up 2 more tablespoons of avocado oil over medium high heat. Add the whites of the green onion and garlic and stir fry until just starting to brown, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the rice and break up any clumps with your spatula and toss to coat the rice in oil. Continue to stir fry the rice, tossing occasionally, until the rice starts to brown and crisp up, 6 to 8 minutes. Season with soy sauce, sesame oil, salt, and white pepper and give the rice a good toss. Push the rice to the edges of the pan, leaving an opening in the middle, and add a little bit more oil to the pan. Add the whisked eggs and allow them to set up for 45 to 60 seconds and then scramble with spatula, then gradually mix the eggs into the rice. Add the frozen edamame and half of the green onion greens and mix into the rice. Taste and adjust the seasoning of the rice to your liking. I prefer the fried rice to be on a milder side to not compete with the pork and sauce.

6. Cut the pork chop off the bone and cut the meat into thick slices. Arrange the bone and sliced meat on top of the fried rice. Spoon the tomato sauce over the pork chops and top with mozzarella cheese. Bake in the oven until warmed through and the cheese on top is melty with blistered brown spots on top, 10 to 12 minutes. You can turn your broiler on for the last few minutes to get a good color.

7. Allow the baked pork chop rice to cool for a few minutes. Top with remaining green onions and serve.