Korean style pork chops are a little bit spicy, a whole lot savoury and loaded with flavour. Try them when your everyday pork chops just won’t do.
I love a good pork chop. And Korean style pork chops are one of my favourite ways to serve them up. Something about the umami-ness (like that’s a word) makes me smile.
Get to know Korean food
I have a thing for Korean food. Not sure why it isn’t more popular. It’s a little bit spicy. And it’s different from other Asian cuisines. Distinct.
It’s not all about kimchi and Korean BBQ either. Korean is a rich culture with diverse cooking styles and tastes. It’s getting known though.
I have a Korean grocery near my house now. And most Asian groceries carry a lot of Korean these days. So it’s not that far out there.
Korean is a little bit spicy. Not mouth searing like some Asian cuisines but it does have a bit of a kick. Balanced. Savoury. Give it a try.
Korean pork chops are easier than you think
Korean style pork chops take about 5 minutes to prep and cook up in no time flat. A few ingredients, a quick marinade and your ready to go.
There’s nothing too exotic here. Nothing crazy complicated. You might need a trip to an Asian grocer but you will be glad you went.
Gochujang – Korea’s secret weapon
One of the backbone seasonings in Korean cooking is gochujang. It’s what makes these Korean style pork chops what they are.
Gochujang is a Korean chili paste. It’s not scary. Not strange. It’s not some weird fish concoction. If you’ve ever had Korean, you’ve had gochujang. It’s like miso with some heat. Not exactly. But pretty close.
You can get it at pretty much any Asian market. If you can’t find it, mixing sriracha and miso comes pretty close.
You can cook these Korean style pork chops in a skillet and finish them off in an oven. Or you can grill them up for even more flavour. If you do cook them in a skillet you can spoon the drippings onto the chops. That’s a nice touch.
However you cook these make sure you don’t go above an internal temperature of 135F. Pork loin is not forgiving. It will dry out on you and no wonder sauce is going to save it.
But if you nail these Korean style pork chops you are going to love them.
korean style pork chops
Ingredients
- 4 one inch thick pork loin chops
- 2 Tbsp gochujang
- 1 Tbsp soy sauce
- 2 Tbsp brown sugar
- 1 clove garlic - minced
- 1 tsp grated ginger
- 2 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- sesame seeds - for garnish
Instructions
The marinade
- Combine all the ingredients except the pork chops and sesame seeds and mix thoroughly. Gochujang is pretty thick out of the fridge so keep going. You will get to a smooth marinade.
- Mix the marinade with the pork.
Skillet method
- Pre-heat your oven to 375F.
- Heat a skillet large enough to hold the chops in a single layer over medium heat.
- Film the skillet with vegetable oil.
- Briefly fry the chops to brown them.
- Turn the chops over and place them in the pre-heated oven.
- Cook, until they reach an internal temperature of 135F.
- Let stand for 5 minutes.
- Sprinkle with sesame seeds and spoon any juices from the pan overtop.
Grill method
- Prepare your grill for medium direct heat.
- Grill the chops, turning a couple times, until they reach an internal temperature of 135F.
- Let stand for 5 minutes.
- Sprinkle with sesame seeds and spoon the accumulated juices overtop.
Nutrition
Dear Romain,
another great recipe from glebekitchen! Yesterday night friends were over with their kids. So this recipe was ideal to serve a larger amount of people. I marinated the meat the evening before already, and I kept it lightly vacuumed and sealed in the fridge for 24 hours. Gochujang is magic stuff. And you are totally right about the umami! I chose to grill the meat, and served it with (store-bought) kimchi and your Korean cucumber salad and some bread. And of course there was a good portion of your gochujang mayonnaise on the table. The kimchi added the sour part, the salad was sweet-sour and the meat gave the umami. The mayonnaise added the creamy texture, so it all blended well together. We had a French rosé with it which had enough body to carry all those tastes. This was a fantastic dinner, everybody loved it! I can recommend this dish to everybody, Korean cooking is really great! And thanks to your marvellous site we all can discover that. Again you rock, Romain!
Kind regards from the Netherlands!
That’s a seriously great sounding feast. I need to get out and grill a little more before the long Canadian winter starts.
I’ve never tried a big rose with Korean. But I will now. Thank you for that idea!