Salt & Pepper Pork Chops – A Classic With Serious Crunch
There’s a reason Salt and Pepper anything has become a staple across East Asian cooking — it’s simple, bold, aromatic and unbelievably satisfying. From chicken wings to squid, the combination of fragrant spices, garlic, fresh chillies, onions and peppers has found its way into countless takeaway menus and home kitchens. But one of my personal favourites? Salt and Pepper Pork Chops.
This dish is all about contrast — tender, juicy pork wrapped in a crispy, savoury coating, finished with that irresistible salt-and-pepper seasoning mix. It’s the kind of food that fills the kitchen with sizzling sounds and mouth-watering aromas before you’ve even plated up.
Growing up, salt and pepper dishes were always a hit in our family kitchen and in the restaurant. Customers loved that unmistakable fragrance — the garlic hitting the wok, the pepper waking up your senses, the sweetness of onions and peppers balancing everything out. It’s comfort food, but with attitude.
And there’s a real craft to getting pork chops right. The tenderising process — scoring the rind, stabbing the meat, giving it a good bash with a rolling pin — isn’t just practical, it’s therapeutic. The marinade brings warmth and depth, the air-frying or roasting gives you that perfect exterior, and the final toss in the wok ties everything together with flavour you can smell from down the street.
What I love most is how such a humble list of ingredients transforms into something so full of flavour. It’s everyday cooking elevated through technique — the kind of recipe that feels both nostalgic and exciting at the same time.
Serve these hot, fresh from the wok, and listen for the crunch as you cut into them. Salt and Pepper Pork Chops may be simple, but when done right, they’re nothing short of magical — proof that sometimes the most comforting dishes come from the simplest combinations.
Salt and Pepper Pork Chops
Ingredients
- 2 or 4 Pork Chops
- 3 tbsp Light Soy Sauce
- 1.5 tbsp Chinese Five Spice Powder
- 1 tbsp Chinese Rice Wine or Sweet Sherry
- 1.5 tbsp Corn Flour
- 2.5 tbsp Oil Vegetable, Groundnut, Rice Bran
Salt and Pepper Ingredients
- 1 Onion diced
- 1 Red Pepper diced
- 2 Garlic Cloves minced
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1/2 tsp Ground Black Pepper
- 2 tbsp Oil Vegetable, Groundnut, Rice Bran
Instructions
- Begin by cutting slits into the pork rind which will help it render as it cooks. Next using a sharp knife, (release any tension from the day) and stab your meat all over. Lastly using a tenderizer or heavy rolling pin, beat your pork chop. This process will help shorten and break the muscle fibres to ensure a tender piece of meat once cooked, (whilst leaving you in a completely zen state to prepare the rest of the dish).
- Place chops into a large bowl and add the marinade ingredients, except the oil as this creates a barrier and your meat won't be able to absorb the other flavours. Massage the marinade into the pork then finally add the oil and ensure each piece of chop is coated evenly.
- Place into your preheated Air Fryer or Oven on a wire rack at 190c, cook for 12 to 15 minutes, then turn the pork chops over, increase the heat to 200c for a further 8 to 10 minutes. Once cooked, place onto a wire rack to cool slightly.
- Place a frying pan or wok over a medium to high heat, add 2tbsp oil along with diced onion, pepper and garlic and fry until fragrant.
- Evenly sprinkle in your salt and pepper and then toss your chops in the wok to coat in the seasoning and serve hot.
Recipe is from my Chinese Made Easy Cook Book
