Fragrant charred pork chop & pickled rainbow carrot slaw

Flattening your pork chop not only tenderises the protein but makes it cook quicker – an ideal technique for weeknight meals – plus it feels like your portion goes further (if you’re trying to cut back on your meat intake).

Fragrant charred pork chop & pickled rainbow carrot slaw Credit: Benito Martin

• serves

  2

• prep

  20 minutes

• cook

  5 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

The pork chop gets a quick marinade in fish sauce and palm sugar. This is a colourful plate with the quick-pickled carrot slaw.

Ingredients

• 2 x 150 g pork fillets, flattened to 5 mm thick 

Marinade

• 1 small red Asian eschalot
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 red bird’s eye chilli, roughly chopped
• 2 tsp rapadura or soft brown sugar
• 2 tsp light soy sauce
• 2 tsp fish sauce
• 2 tsp cooking oil
• freshly ground white pepper

Rainbow carrot slaw

• 1 large orange carrot, julienned 
• 1 small purple carrot (or beetroot), julienned 
• 100 g (½ cup packed) bean sprouts
• 1 small bunch coriander, stems only, cut into 3 cm lengths
• ½ tsp sea salt flakes
• ¼ cup brown rice vinegar
• 1 red bird’s eye chilli, halved lengthways

Instructions

1. Make the marinade. Combine all the ingredients in a large shallow bowl. Add the pork and massage in the marinade on both sides. Marinate in the fridge while you prepare the other ingredients.
2. Make the pickled rainbow carrot slaw. Toss the carrot, bean sprouts and coriander stems with the salt and set aside for 10 minutes to soften (you may want to keep the purple carrots separate if you don’t want your other vegetables stained - especially if you're using beetroot). Pour the vinegar, add the chilli and set aside to while you cook the pork.
3. Grill the pork. Remove the pork from the marinade. Heat a barbecue or chargrill pan to high. Grill the pork for 2 minutes each side (pressing down to get some nice char) or until cooked through and nicely charred. [video op] Cover in foil and rest for 5 minutes.
4. Slice the pork into thick strips. Arrange on a serving plate, top with the drained slaw. 

 

Photography by Benito Martin, styling by Lynsey Fryers, food preparation by O Tama Carey and creative concept by Belinda So.

View more recipes in our Eat Better, Live Better collection, created in partnership with Medibank.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.

The pork chop gets a quick marinade in fish sauce and palm sugar. This is a colourful plate with the quick-pickled carrot slaw.