Recipe from Curtis Stone
Adapted by Steven Raichlen
- Total Time
- 30 minutes, plus 4 hours' marinating
- Rating
- 5(309)
- Notes
- Read community notes
Smoke has been called the umami of barbecue, and these pork chops, which the chef Curtis Stone cooks over wood fire at his restaurant Gwen in Los Angeles, possess it in spades. Fish sauce and soy sauce provide the salt in the marinade; hoisin sauce and honey the sweetness. The peanuts and sesame seeds in the topping reinforce the nuttiness of the sesame oil in the marinade. You can use charcoal if wood is not an option, or cook over gas if necessary. —Steven Raichlen
Featured in: Grilling Turns Back to an Ancient Fuel: Wood
or to save this recipe.
Print Options
Advertisem*nt
Ingredients
Yield:4 servings
- ⅔cup honey
- ½cup hoisin sauce
- ⅓cup soy sauce
- ⅓cup sesame oil
- 3tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 2tablespoons chile oil
- 2tablespoons fish sauce
- 2garlic cloves, minced
- 1shallot, minced
- 2teaspoons freshly grated ginger
- 4thick pork rib chops (12 ounces each)
- ¼cup chopped roasted peanuts
- ¼cup thinly sliced scallions
- ¼cup roughly chopped cilantro
- 2tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
For the Pork Chops
For the Topping
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)
1008 calories; 56 grams fat; 12 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 24 grams monounsaturated fat; 16 grams polyunsaturated fat; 68 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams dietary fiber; 57 grams sugars; 60 grams protein; 2540 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Preparation
Step
1
Prepare the pork chops: Place all the ingredients except for the chops in a mixing bowl and whisk to blend.
Step
2
Arrange the chops in a baking dish. Pour the marinade over the chops, turning them to coat both sides. Marinate the chops in the refrigerator for 4 hours, turning them over a couple of times so they marinate evenly.
Step
3
Meanwhile, build a wood fire in your grill with a hot zone for searing and a medium zone for cooking. (You can do the same with charcoal. If you’re using a gas grill, place a few hardwood chunks under the grate over one or two of the burners. Heat one burner on high heat and additional burners on medium heat, adjusting the heat as necessary.) Brush and oil the grill grate.
Step
4
Grill the pork chops, allowing some but not all of the marinade to drip off first, until sizzling and browned on the outside and cooked to taste. If you like your pork with a blush of pink, cook until it reads 145 degrees in the center on an instant-read thermometer (about 3 minutes per side); if you like your pork cooked all the way through, look for the meat to reach 155 degrees in the center (about 4 minutes per side). Work mostly over the medium fire, moving chops to the hot fire at the end to sear the crust. Transfer the chops to a wire rack over a sheet pan and let rest for 2 minutes.
Step
5
Garnish and serve: Combine peanuts, scallions, cilantro and sesame seeds in a bowl and toss to mix. Arrange chops on a platter or individual plates. Sprinkle with peanut mixture and serve.
Ratings
5
out of 5
309
user ratings
Your rating
or to rate this recipe.
Have you cooked this?
or to mark this recipe as cooked.
Private Notes
Leave a Private Note on this recipe and see it here.
Cooking Notes
Suzanne
the marinade had LOTS of ingredients and I was wondering if it would be worth it (it was!!!). The only thing we did was take the smoke umami one step further and we smoked on them on a Traeger for an hour and grilled them after. Tender and juicy. Served with Tejal Rao's coconut rice and a vegetable.
Helen
I don't care for much sweetness or flavors that overpower the taste of the main ingredient (pork here). I reduced the marinade to approx. 2 Tbsp each of honey, hoisin, soy, sesame oil, and red wine vinegar, and 1 Tbsp chile oil & fish sauce, 1 tsp ginger. I know some people hate when you re-write a recipe, but had to weigh in on this one. At a minimum, I'd cut the honey to 1/3 cup.
PatC
Why so much marinade? Cut it in half and marinate in a ziplock bag turning a couple of times to make sure they all get bathed.
Kath
OMG - So good. Used pork loin chops. Followed recipe exactly and then boiled the marinade. Served with Udon noodles and some sautéed veg - red pepper, snap peas, radish, ginger. Poured the cooked marinade overtop the noodles.
Keith
Made as written. But only used half the marinade for the pork and used the other half for a sauce. (I can’t use a marinade for sauce after it’s been sitting with raw meat even after cooking it. Not that daring.)
Catherine
These turned out so good and were so easy. Made this mostly as written. Used boneless pork loin chops, marinated only 20 mins before cooking, and made in a cast iron instead of on the grill. I added a small amount of the marinade with the pork chops in the pan and cooked on high to cook down the sauce to get some caramelization and more flavor to the pork which worked great. Served with rice and green beans. Cooked down extra sauce separately to have on the side.
courney
Me and the bf made this last night with boneless chops and wow!! we loved this and while the marinade can seem like a decent amount of ingredients it’s worth it! We second everyone that suggested heating the marinade as a sauce. We drizzled it over our pork that we sliced over rice with bok choy
Mike
Fantastic, but don't throw away the marinade -- simmer it for a few minutes, and you have an amazing sauce!
me
I halve the marinade recipe for 4 lb. of boneless pork and marinate in a plastic bag. Plenty of marinade; the recipe makes way too much. Really delicious. I slightly undercook the pork on the grill so when I reheat it, it's perfect and not overcooked. Very tasty. I recommend low-salt soy sauce and hoison if you can find it.
Olivia
Love this! Didn't have fish sauce so I used chopped anchovies. Also didn't have hoisin so I just omitted it and it was still great. I cooked off the leftover marinate and used it for fried rice. So good!
me
A not terrible substitute for hoison would be ketchup. I'd prefer hoison.
Sherryl
Would definitely make this again. I had a lot of the "topping" leftover. Great in eggs or on top of a salad or rice.
Gman
Definitely a keeper recipe!! As previously mentioned, many ingredients for the marinade and well-worth the effort. Am seconding the motion to simmer the marinade for noodles of your choosing, more for the chops, vegetables, or just by the spoonful...yummy!!
Kath
OMG - So good. Used pork loin chops. Followed recipe exactly and then boiled the marinade. Served with Udon noodles and some sautéed veg - red pepper, snap peas, radish, ginger. Poured the cooked marinade overtop the noodles.
mb
After reading comments, I halved the marinade and added some heat in the form of Thai red curry paste. Boiled the marinade and used it to drizzle over the pork and steamed rice. Really terrific dish.
Annalies
This marinade is amazing!!! If you're a broke college student like me with no backyard, let alone a grill, these are also excellent seared quickly in a hot cast iron and finished in the oven. Definitely a new staple!
Dev
These are really good, but a few thoughts: This made a lot of marinade, too much imo. Honey can be a spendy, so unless you are making extra chops, I cut the marinade by about half. I also took the extra marinade and after I had removed the chops and put it in a skillet to cook down and use it to glaze the chops and the veggies I had made on the side. Glad I did, it was good!
Morganhomer
Awesome marinade. Cooked down (heated to safe temp but did not reduce) leftover marinade to drizzle on top. Good move.
johnc
Foraging while condo camping got us to a tasty outcome:No hoisin Subbed maple syrup for honeySubbed cayenne for chili oilRice wine vinegar for red wine vinegar
jkeva410
I cubed the pork so there were more edges to soak in the marinade, then skewered for grilling. The chopped peanut topping added a lot of welcome crunch. I served with stir-fried veggies and asian noodles, and a cucumber and onion rice vinegar salad.
Private notes are only visible to you.
