Malaysian Marinated Blade-End Pork Chops with Green Papaya Salad

Cheap Eats

SERVES: 6

Malaysia is primarily a Muslim country, and the majority of the population does not eat pork, but a large non-Muslim ethnic minority called the Baba-Nyonya revere it. Their cooking shows a strong influence from their Chinese ancestors, who were originally brought to Malaysia to work on the rubber plantations. This marinade is also great on pork back ribs and spareribs, which can then be roasted on the grill or baked. The marinade is equally tasty with lamb breast, lamb shoulder chops, or prime rib bones (beef rib back bones). If you’d like, turn the marinade into a sauce. The chops are best marinated overnight.

INGREDIENTS:

MALAYSIAN MARINADE

• 1 tablespoon fennel seeds
• 2 teaspoons coriander seeds
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 8 macadamia nuts
• 1 jalapeño chile, stemmed, seeded, and finely chopped (optional)
• 1 fresh lemongrass stalk, tender inner leaves only, minced
• 1 cup chopped white onions
• 3 garlic cloves, peeled
• 2 teaspoons finely grated lime zest
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh ginger or galangal
• 1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon belacan or 2 anchovy fillets
• ⅓ cup soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon Sriracha sauce
• 1 cup unsweetened coconut milk, stirred well
• 6 1½-inch-thick bone-in blade-end pork loin chops (3–4 pounds total)

GREEN PAPAYA SALAD

• 1½ tablespoons dark brown sugar or crushed palm sugar, or more to taste
• 3 tablespoons Asian fish sauce
• 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice, or more to taste
• 1 teaspoon dried shrimp or ½ teaspoon minced anchovy
• 1 garlic clove, peeled
• 1 bird’s-eye or serrano chile, stemmed, seeded, and chopped
• 2 cups long julienne strips peeled green papaya
• 6 green beans, sliced into diagonalslivers
• 8 cherry tomatoes, quartered
• ¼ cup dry-roasted peanuts
• Salt

GARNISH

• Lime wedges
• Green Papaya Salad

INSTRUCTIONS:

MARINADE

1. Heat a small skillet over medium heat and sprinkle in the fennel, coriander, and cumin seeds. Toast the seeds until they are fragrant and just begin to smoke, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a mortar and grind with a pestle into a powder. Add the nuts and continue to grind until the mixture forms a dry paste. Scrape the nut mixture into a blender and add the remaining ingredients. Blend by pulsing until the mixture becomes smooth and homogenous.
2. Place the chops in a large zipper-lock bag and pour in the marinade. Seal the bag, place the bag in a bowl to catch leaks, and refrigerate overnight, turning and shaking the bag from time to time to redistribute the marinade.
3. Remove the chops from the marinade, shaking off the excess. Save the marinade if you wish to make a sauce. Let the chops stand at room temperature for 1 hour before grilling.
4. Set up a charcoal or gas grill for indirect grilling and grill the chops as directed in the recipe for Mustard and Savory-Marinated Pork Chops. Serve with lime wedges and Green Papaya Salad.

GREEN PAPAYA SALAD

1.  Place the brown sugar in a small bowl, add the fish sauce and lime juice, and stir until dissolved. Pound the shrimp in a mortar with a pestle; add the garlic and continue to pound until a paste forms. Add the chile and pound to bruise, but don’t turn it into a paste. Scrape into the fish sauce mixture and stir to combine. Set the dressing aside.
2.  Toss together the papaya, green beans, and tomatoes in a medium bowl. Stir in the peanuts and dressing until well mixed, then check for seasonings: The salad should be spicy, sour, salty, and sweet, in that order. Adjust to taste with lime juice, salt, and/or sugar. Transfer to a large shallow bowl or deep platter and serve immediately. (This salad gets soggy easily, so don’t put it together until just before serving.)

ALTERNATIVE CUTS:

• Bone-in country-style ribs, Blade-end pork loin chops, Boneless country-style ribs, Bone-in rib chops, Back ribs or spareribs, Lamb breast, Lamb shoulder chops, Beef prime rib bones (beef rib back bones)

COOK’S NOTES:

• Fresh galangal looks like ginger but has a distinct taste. It can be found in Asian specialty stores.
• Belacan, made from fermented shrimp, is used in Malaysian and Indonesian cooking. It is known as terasi in Indonesia and mam ruoc in Vietnam. While it has a strong odor and taste, it provides an essential, subtle background flavor in a marinade or sauce. It keeps well in the refrigerator. Anchovies are an adequate substitute.
• To turn the marinade into a sauce, pour it into a small saucepan, add 1 cup canned low-sodium chicken broth, bring to a boil, and reduce until syrupy.
• If spicy isn’t your thing, leave the chile out or use less.
• Hand-slicing the green papaya into julienne strips is best, but if you have a sharp shredding blade on your food processor, you can use it. Do not use a hand shredder, which will give soggy results.

LEFTOVERS:

• If you make the marinade sauce, dice the leftover meat and warm it in the sauce to serve over rice. You can extend the recipe by adding some mushrooms, diced zucchini, broccoli florets, or cooked carrots to the meat.