Pork Chops with Fish Sauce Butter

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I saw a New York Times Cooking video on making roasted chicken thighs glazed with this fish sauce butter, and was intrigued-- and decided to make this now famous "fish sauce butter" so I could taste it myself and see what all the hype was about.

When I was making this sauce, the hubby looked up and exclaimed, "WHAT ARE YOU COOKING THAT IS SO STINKY?!"

And then after eating, we were in the garage tooling over stuff, and he said, "You know that you smell like a stinky fish, right?"

Well, DO NOT let his comments deter you from making this.

The sauce is out of this world AMAZING--just like all the reviewers said. Just be prepared, and have the hood vent fans going strong and all the windows open when you make this. Maybe even close the door to the kitchen so the whole house doesn't stink! AND, most importantly, save the used juiced lemon half to rub your hands on after making the dish. Fish sauce is fishy smelling because of all the basic amines, some of which are volatile. The citric acid in the lemon, when reacted with the amines, will form salts that are not volatile, hence eliminating that fishy odor from your hands. (Anyone remember the Hinsberg Test in their sophomore O-Chem lab classes for detecting primary, secondary and tertiary amines? ha ha that's a blast from the past for my chemistry nerd friends out there!)

Here's the step by step pictures of how to make this dish

P.S. The lemon is a gift from my friend Janet's tree! Thanks Janet!


Sprinkle salt and pepper over chops and pan fry

Until browned on both sides and cooked. Transfer to plate

Juice half a lemon
Add lemon juice, fish sauce, and brown sugar to pan. Heat to dissolve

Add butter

Mix and heat until a thin syrup forms. Drizzle over chops. Garnish with green onions

Yields 6 servings (Fish sauce butter recipe adapted from NYT Roasted Chicken with Fish Sauce Butter)

Ingredients:

  • 6 Boneless pork chops
  • 2 T packed dark brown sugar
  • 2 T Fish Sauce*
  • 2 T lemon juice
  • 2 T cold butter
  • chopped scallions for garnish
  • 1 T cooking oil

1. Add 1 T of oil to the pan and heat on medium high heat. Place pork chops in a single layer in the pan. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Pan fry for 2 to 3 minutes, then turn over and pan fry the other side for 3 to 4 minutes until cooked through. Transfer to a serving plate, tented to keep warm, and set aside.

2. In the same pan, add the brown sugar, fish sauce and lemon juice. Mix and heat under medium heat until dissolved. Then add in the cold butter and stir until a syrupy glaze starts to form. Turn off the heat and pour glaze over the pork chops. Garnish with chopped scallions. Serve hot with rice.

* I used the 3 crabs brand of fish sauce, which I believe is one of the saltier brands of fish sauce. My friends and I had a nice discussion about different fish sauces.