Pork Chops With Tamarind and Ginger Recipe (2024)

Instead of using pork chops, I cut up about two pounds of pork shoulder into 1 inch pieces and marinated them in the marinade overnight. Then I cooked them like carnitas: I put them in a heavy pot, put in enough water just to cover the pork bits, and then cooked them, uncovered, on medium heat until the water was gone and the pork was sizzling. Then I wrapped the pieces of pork, along with some rice, mint, cilantro, and Thai basil, in leaves of butter lettuce. Delicious.

Yum! I love finding other uses for tamarind besides Pad Thai. I added 1 TB of brown sugar to balance out the marinade. Served with Asian Slaw (thin sliced Napa cabbage, matchstick carrots, rice vinegar oil and sesame oil, salt and pepper) this was light and delicious - oh and don't let those pan drippings go to waste - I added some leftover Jasmine rice for a quick simple fried rice - ahhhhh!

try oven at 220, bake longer - the result will be more tender and the kitchen will be cooler

Years ago, I stopped eating pork because it was so lean it was like eating shoe leather. Now, as my local Coop Food Stores in NH/VT purchase more and more meat from local organic farmers, I'm returning to pork. I look forward to trying this recipe.

OK, So I made one of these for breakfast! Get over it.
This is an excellent recipe, but too busy and far too many ingredients. (Curb yourself, Ms. and learn some modesty.)
I left out several non-essentials and still enjoyed every bite. Heck Yes!! Fatty Pig Meat is superior to the lean 'other white,' of a few years ago. Chops may be Q&D, but when roasting, cook it as G'ma or Mom did, rest it before carving. Pease see Part Two...

Sally, Uncertain what is meant by "regular old tamarind paste"? If pressed blocks of pods found in SE Asian, Indian & Middle Eastern markets, then no. Need to convert that to concentrate first. I've done it; time consuming & stinky. Tamarind concentrate (more liquidy) or paste (more solid) would both work. If paste, will need more liquid in recipe. Aunt Patty's Tamarind Paste in jar is one I like. Lasts forever in fridge. In many stores. Online too.

I did the cook sous-vide. I put the two marinated chops, minus two tbsp of marinade, in two vacuum bags. After marinating for 1/2 h (which may have been short), I lowered one of the two bags into a sous-vide setup at 142 F for 2.5 h. After that I seared (a minute or so for each side and edge) it in a smoking-hot skillet with oil, adding one tbsp of the leftover marinade half-way. Searing done, flameout, added the liquid from the bag. The other bag, and the marinade, are in the freezer. Delish!

Sally, "part two" of my answer is I think you'll find once you purchase tamardind paste or concentrate, you will find lots of uses for it. It is a wonderful flavoring to add a tart-ish element to different dishes. We use it quite a lot in in our kitchen after being first introduced to it about a dozen years ago. In any event, so inexpensive for a container (@$7 - $9 ish depending on size and brand), not a big investment. Keeps for a long time in fridge when open.

Recipe yields very good chops, but I found it a bit too salty and too tart using the tamarind concentrate. Easy fixes for both: cut salt by at least half (good fish sauce will plug that gap), and add a few tsps of brown sugar or something like agave to the marinade. Reserved marinade added to pan after baking became quite thick almost burned until I added a few ounces of water to make a nicer sauce.

Try an Asian supermarket

I appreciated how moist the meat was in cooking it this way but I found that the marinade, even after 3 hours, didn't really do much for the pork and the scallions became the dominant flavor. Also, my marinade that was added to the pan became brittle and the ginger/garlic made it "clumpy". I couldn't really spread it onto the meat after I took it out of the oven.

I modified this because I didn't have all of the ingredients. (I used Tabasco instead of chile paste, anchovy paste instead of fish sauce, and some Worcestershire sauce instead of salt). Spread it on tilapia fillets, added a little white wine to the pan and steamed it in the microwave. It was very good.

This marinade is amazing! And this pork works on the grill if you don't mind giving up the pan sauce -- worked well for a summer dinner consisting of grilled corn on the cob and sliced heirloom tomatoes.

Cumin and Turmeric really define the dish. If I cooked it again, I would use less of each.

An easy sub for the sambal was 1 Thai chili mashed with a bit of garlic, salt and rice vinegar. Next time I'd buy a jar of tamarind concentrate rather than make from scratch out of a block of pulp which took an hour. Cut the salt by half. Seared the chops in the pan to 135F (130F would have been better for my 1-inch chops), set aside, skipped the oven step, deglazed the pan with chicken stock. Tasty and new flavors for me. I feared the chili kick or the salt would be too much but not so.

Tripled recipe, for thick pork chops seared both sides and in oven for 10 minutes. Deglazed pan, added marinade with bit of lime juice and rice vinegar. Made rice bowls with meat.

I added some chicken broth as there wasn’t much pan drippings. But really tasty

Gojuchang was a great substitute for sambal oelek as mine had expired (a while ago) and the local supermarket did not have any. It added extra umami

A favorite

Used a chunked up pork tenderloin; used 2 TBSP tamarind nectar, TJ’s chili onion crunch for the chili paste, cut the salt in half but the rest was the same. Cooked on the grill. It was ok but we preferred the NYT recipe (Marian Burros) for mustard glazed tenderloin.

Couldn’t find the tamarind so used lime. Great marinade! Will try again with tamarind next time I see it in store. Can’t wait to cook for s.o. This would also be super on pork shoulder skewers on the grill. Two notes. Is it my thermometer? My 135° was very rare indeed for pork, not “light pink.” I hate to overcook pork but would go warmer next time. Also would do the pan sauce separately at the end - putting extra marinade in the oven with the pork, it just kind of burned in the pan.

Deglazed with vodka and added dairy free sour cream to the sauce, really good.

Cooking them on top of the stove start to finish is fine and a lot easier. Just lower the heat under the skillet after the initial browning and cook till done. While they rest, turn skillet back to high heat, scrape the bits, add some water, boil for a minute and then strain for plenty of delicious jus for pouring over the chops and sides like rice and/or vegetables.

I found the marinade a but too salty for my palate, so will reduce or omit the extra salt next time. I also added a bit of water to the marinade because it was drying out as the pork roasted in the oven. Otherwise, the flavors were intense and delicious with the pork.

Use thin pork chops and adjust cooking time

when do you use the coconut oil?

I cook these on top of the stove in a good non-stick pan. (You can't get all the turmeric off a cast-iron pan no matter what, and the next thing or two you cook in it will be yellow, not to mention taste of turmeric.) But wonderful and delicious! I serve it with plain white rice and vegetables.

Delicious! Will make this again. Prepared as instructed, with dried ginger substituted. Was concerned that absent any sweetness this would have a one-note taste, but we loved the flavor, and this method is one I will return to. Note that any minced garlic that remains on the chops will blacken on the stovetop. My 1.5-inch chops required a total of 18 minutes in the oven to come to 135 degrees, and I had to add some water to the pan to keep it from drying out.