Vietnamese pork chops (cơm sườn)
Garlicky, caramelized fish sauce pork chops over rice with fresh cucumber, tomato and a sweet-sour dipping sauce to pour over everything.
- 65 min total
- 25 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 4
- About $2.86 a serving
- 650 calories
- Gluten-free
- Dairy-free
Dolly says: Most of the time here is hands-off, so you can sit down while it cooks.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- ¼ cup fish sauce, divided
- 5 cloves garlic, minced, divided
- 1 shallot, minced
- 4 boneless pork chops, boneless, about ½ inch thick
- 1½ cups jasmine rice
- 2 limes
- 1 serrano pepper, thinly sliced (optional)
- 1 cucumber, sliced
- 1 tomato, sliced
From your pantry
- 3½ tbsp sugar, divided
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2½ cups water, divided
Each serving has about 650 calories, 43 g protein, 77 g carbs and 19 g fat, and costs about $2.86 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No jasmine rice? Long-grain white rice or basmati rice works.
- No limes? Lemons work.
- No cucumbers? English cucumbers or mini cucumbers work.
- No tomatoes? Roma tomatoes work.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
2 tbsp of the fish sauce, 1½ tbsp of the sugar, 3 cloves of the garlic, the shallot, pepper and oil together in a bowl.
Whisk. Whisking means beating quickly with a whisk or a fork to blend things together. It smooths out lumps and mixes eggs, oil or sauces evenly.
How you’ll know: It all looks one even color and texture, with no streaks or lumps.
Turn the chops in the marinade until coated, then cover and them in the fridge for 30 minutes, or up to overnight.
Marinate. Marinating means letting food sit in a flavorful liquid, called a marinade, before you cook it. Always marinate in the fridge, and never reuse marinade from raw meat unless you boil it first.
How you’ll know: The food is coated all over, sealed in a bag or covered dish, and chilling in the fridge.
Timer: 30 min
Dolly’s tip: Fish sauce smells strong from the bottle. Cooked, it turns into deep, savory flavor, not fishy.the rice and bring it with 2¼ cups of the water in a .
Rinse. Rinsing means running cold water over rice or canned beans in a strainer while you swish them around. It washes off loose starch and can liquid, so rice cooks up fluffy and beans taste clean.
How you’ll know: The water running out goes from cloudy to mostly clear; it doesn’t have to be perfect.
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
Saucepan. A saucepan is a pot with tall, straight sides and one long handle. It’s for things that need depth, like rice, sauces or a few boiled eggs.
How you’ll know: The food fills it about halfway, leaving room to bubble without spilling over.
High heat
Cover, turn the heat to low, and cook 15 minutes.
Low heatTimer: 15 min
Stir the rest of the fish sauce, sugar and garlic with the juice of the limes, the last ¼ cup of water and the chile until the sugar dissolves. This is the dipping sauce.
Turn on the with a rack about 4 inches below it, line a with foil, and lay the chops on it.
Broil. Broiling means cooking under the oven’s top heating element, with strong heat from above. It browns and crisps the top in minutes, and it can burn fast, so stay close.
How you’ll know: The top bubbles and spots golden brown; check every minute and pull it before it blackens.
Sheet pan. A sheet pan is a flat metal baking tray with a low rim all the way around. The rim catches juices, and the wide surface lets food spread out and brown.
How you’ll know: Everything fits in one layer with a little space between the pieces.
4 to 5 minutes a side, until at the edges and the middle reads 145°F.
Broil. Broiling means cooking under the oven’s top heating element, with strong heat from above. It browns and crisps the top in minutes, and it can burn fast, so stay close.
How you’ll know: The top bubbles and spots golden brown; check every minute and pull it before it blackens.
Char. Charring means cooking over very high heat until some spots turn black. Those dark spots add a smoky, slightly bitter flavor that balances sweet or rich food.
How you’ll know: You see black spots and blisters in places, while most of the surface keeps its own color.
Timer: 4 min 30 sec
Dolly’s tip: The sugar in the marinade blackens in spots. That’s the flavor you want, so don’t panic.Food safety: Steak, pork chops and other whole cuts are safe at 145°F in the middle, then let them rest for 3 minutes before cutting.
Serve the chops whole or sliced over the rice with the cucumber and tomato, and spoon the dipping sauce over everything.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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