Hong Kong style pork chops over rice is basically a pork chop that sits over a bed of egg fried rice, topped with a sweet and tangy tomato sauce and melted cheese. I know you are thinking the tomato sauce and cheese over rice sounds weird, but this iconic fusion dish became popular (for a reason!) in Hong Kong’s cha chaan tengs (tea restaurants) post World War II and is a reflection of Hong Kong’s 150 year history as a British colony.
Western restaurants were present in Hong Kong prior to World War II, but were accessible only to the wealthy. After the war, British influences led Hong Kong people to start adding milk to their tea and eating pastries. This led to the opening of cha chaan tengs, initially just serving Hong Kong Style milk tea and pastries. As manufacturing grew during the 1950’s and 60’s, more and more people were working in factories and needed affordable, convenient, and fast places to go for lunch. Aside from milk tea, cha chaan tengs began serving up western food with a cantonese spin where most dishes were served as a complete meal on an individual plate, forgoing the Chinese tradition of sharing plates at the center of the table.
Here in the Bay Area, there are a quite a few cha chaan tengs, and I took my parents out to one just this week. My parents grew up in Hong Kong during the time when cha chaan tengs were popular in Hong Kong and remembers the Canto-western dishes fondly. However, sadly, the Hong Kong style baked pork chops that we ordered were such a disappointment that it inspired us to recreate a better version of this dish at home.
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| Marinate pork chops and dredge in flour |
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| Pan fry til browned on both sides |
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| Make fried rice |
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| Add green onions and eggs to fried rice |
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| Transfer Fried rice to an oven safe tray |
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| Layer with pork chops |
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| Make the tomato sauce |
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| Pour tomato sauce over pork chop rice |
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| Top with shredded cheese and bake |
Although this dish traditionally is made with bone-in pork chops, I removed the bone from the pork chop so that it’s easier to eat under the mound of sauce. Also, the sauce is the key to this dish, and really what makes it unique and “Canto-western”, so don’t skip on adding in diced tomatoes for a slightly “chunkier” consistency, and using chicken stock to boost the flavor of the sauce. Enjoy!
Yields 6 servings
Ingredients for pork chops:
- 6 boneless pork shoulder chops cut in half (about 2 lbs)
- 1 t salt
- ½ t pepper
- ½ t garlic powder
- ½ c all purpose flour
Ingredients for tomato sauce:
- 3 medium roma tomatoes diced (3/4 pounds)
- ¼ c tomato paste
- 3 T rice vinegar
- 2 T soy sauce
- 3 T brown sugar
- 1 T dried chopped onions
- ½ t garlic powder
- 1 c chicken stock
- 1 T cornstarch with 3T water (cornstarch slurry)
Ingredients for fried rice:
- 5 to 6 cups cooked brown rice (or white rice)
- 3 eggs, beaten
- 1 bunch of green onions, chopped (about 1 c)
- 1 t salt
- 1 t oil
- 4 oz shredded cheese (cheddar, mozzarella, or jack cheese)
Procedures:
1. Marinate the pork chops with salt, pepper and garlic for at least 30 min; overnight is better.
2. Dredge pork chops in flour and pan fry on a nonstick pan until browned on both sides and until just cooked through. Set aside.
3. Wipe pan clean and add oil, salt and rice to the pan to make the fried rice. Stir fry for a few minutes, then push the rice to one side of the pan, and add in the beaten eggs to the clean side of the pan. Stir to scramble eggs. Once eggs are cooked, mix into the rice and add green onions. Mix well. Remove from heat and set aside.
4. To make the tomato sauce topping, add all the sauce ingredients except for the cornstarch, into a small pot. Heat stirring occasionally until the roma tomatoes start to break down (about 10 min). Taste and add a pinch of salt if needed. Then make a cornstarch slurry with 1 T cornstarch and 3 T water. Pour cornstarch slurry into pot with constant stirring until sauce thickens. Turn off heat and set aside.
5. Assembly: Spread fried rice out evenly on the bottom of a large oven safe casserole dish. Top with the pan fried pork chops in a single layer. Pour tomato sauce on top of pork chops. Top with shredded cheese.
6. Bake at 375 F for 10 min or until the cheese is just melted.