Indonesian Inspired Pork Chops and Gado Gado Salad
John and Lisa are in their Weekend Kitchen today with a menu perfect for feeding a crowd. Here is their Indonesian-inspired Pork Chops with a Gado Gado Salad which has a mouth-watering, nutty dressing.
Indonesian Inspired Pork Chops and Gado Gado Salad
Serves 4
Ingredients
Pork chops
50ml vegetable oil
1 shallot, finely chopped
5 cloves garlic, finely chopped or garlic paste
4 large pork chops, bone in
20g sea salt and black pepper
2 tbsp ketjap manis (sweet soy sauce)
2 tbsp madras curry powder
1 tbsp muscovado sugar
200g crunchy peanut butter
2 red chillies, deseeded and finely chopped
1 tin coconut milk
Gado Gado Salad
200g sweetheart cabbage, finely shredded
1 large carrot, finely sliced into matchsticks or julienne
1 heaped tbsp white sugar
2 tbsp rice vinegar
½ tsp salt
2 baby gem lettuce, cut into wedges
1 block tofu, diced and fried
4 boiled eggs, cooked to your liking and halved
4 ripe vine tomatoes, cut into wedges
1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
100g Green Beans, blanched
Optional: Crispy shallots and sliced red chilli, to garnish
Method
1. Heat a little oil in a pan then add the shallots, chilli and garlic and let that all soften for a few minutes. Add madras curry powder. Cook for 1 minute, stirring well
2. Add the ketjap manis, sugar, coconut milk and a tin’s worth of water. Bring to boil then add the peanut butter and turn the heat down and leave to simmer for around 15-20 minutes.
3. Take the pork chops and score 4 times down the skin, through the fat with a sharp knife.
4. Rub the chops with a drizzle of vegetable oil then add a good pinch of salt and pepper.
5. Heat a pan and cook the pork chops for 3-4 minutes on each side until firm and cooked through. Remove the chops from the pan and leave to one side to rest. Reserving the pan and any juices.
6. Mix the vinegar with the salt and sugar in a large bowl until the sugar has dissolved. Add the cabbage and carrot and toss everything together until well coated in the dressing.
7. Arrange all the salad and the eggs onto a large platter, scatter over the fried tofu and arrange the pork chops on the top. Drizzle over some of your sauce, if you like, put a little of the sauce in the reserved pork pan and place back on the heat to warm up to use up all those delicious meat juices.
8. Sprinkle over crispy shallots and sliced chilli and a like extra of the shredded salad if you like and then tuck in.