Best Baked Pork Chop Rice Hong Kong (焗豬扒飯)

Picture this. I am 12 years old,  getting ready to eat lunch at school. Some of my friends have pizza or lunchables or most of the time, a sandwich. But me? Nope, I had a box of baked pork chop over rice. Delicious tender pork chop in sweet and savory red sauce over a bed of hot fried rice. Something that looks like asian food, but not quite. I’ll tell you, there were days when I wanted to eat the same lunch as everyone else, but I couldn’t deny that baked pork chop over rice sure beat a cold turkey sandwich. It’s a dish that is so satisfying and comforting that is great even if you reheat it a few times. If you’ve been following along on this blog, you probably already know that I grew up with our family restaurants, specifically Chinese restaurants. Our restaurants ranged from dim sum to baked goods to fine dining to fast casual, otherwise known as Cha chaan tengs. Cha chaan teng food is some of my favorite kinds of foods because it was almost a blend of my two cultures: Chinese and Western cuisine. Read on to learn more about cha chaan tengs!

Baked pork chop over rice is not an Asian dish but this dish is seen all over hong kong cafes “ cha chaan tengs” all over the world. 

What are Cha Chan Teng’s? 

Hong Kong cafes otherwise known as cha chaan tengs are a type of fast casual restaurant in Hong Kong that serves a blend of Chinese and Western cuisine. If you’re thinking, what? Then, let me walk you through a bit of history. Ever since the 1840’s, Hong Kong was a British colony for 100+ years before being turned back over to China in 1997. During the colonization, Britain introduced and imported a wide variety of British culture and foods to Hong Kong. At the time, western cafes were only available to the upper class in the 1920s. Over time, Hong Kongers then adapted Western cuisine to be fused with Cantonese cuisine, thus creating a new type of restaurant that became affordable to all classes. Cha chaan teng, directly translated, is a “tea restaurant,” because patrons are served tea the moment they sit down. Some of the more notable dishes are milk tea, egg tarts, pineapple buns, and the subject of today’s post, baked pork chop over rice. 

What is baked pork chop over rice?

Imagine a tender, juicy, marinated pork chop that is pan fried to perfection atop of a bed of wok-tossed egg fried rice. The pork chop is juicy and soft, melded together with a sweet and savory tomato sauce, on a bed of hot fried rice. And the piece de resistance is shredded cheddar and mozzarella, melted and scorched in the oven. This dish is beautifully layered and when all the pieces come together, it tastes so satisfying and delicious. 

Ingredients

• 2 bone in pork chops
• ½ cup of diced onions 
• 1 clove of minced Garlic
• ¼ cup of tomato paste 
• ¼ cup of  ketchup 
• 1 cup of rice
• 1 ½ tbsp sugar 
• Cheddar or mozzarella cheese (shredded) for garnish
• 2 eggs
• ½ tsp cornstarch

Equipment

• Baking Dish- Use a casserole dish or baking dish that is oven safe to bake the chop chops. 

Instructions

1. Rinse and cook 1 cup of jasmine rice. 
2. Marinate pork chops with some salt and pepper and corn starch. In a bowl, add pork chops and add one egg white into the bowl to mix. (Reserve the egg yolk for fried rice). 
3. Heat a pan or wok on medium heat. Add in 1 tbsp of oil. Once oil is hot, pan fry pork chops. Depending on the thickness of the pork chops, it will affect cook times. For 1-inch thick pork chops, pan fry 4 minutes on each side. Cook pork chops until 90 percent cooked. (165 degrees close to the bone is fully cooked pork chops). Take pork chops off once it’s cooked.
4. Whisk 1 egg and reserved egg yolk with chopsticks until there are little or no egg whites. 
5. Using the same wok, add in rice, some salt and pepper, and egg mixture to saute. Use a spatula to evenly cook fried rice for a few minutes and then place in a baking dish. Add pork chops on top of rice.
6. Turn the heat to medium-low and add in onions and garlic to stir fry until onions are softened. Add in ketchup, tomato paste, water, and sugar and combine. Once the sauce is boiling, pour over the pork chops evenly. 
7. Set oven to bake setting to 350 degrees. Garnish sauce with cheese, and once oven is ready, place the dish in the oven for 8 minutes. For the last 2 minutes, change from bake to broil setting on high. Wait for the cheese to char to a slightly burnt and then remove from the oven. 
8. Serve right away and enjoy! 

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