Keep it on

When it comes to pork chop, what grabs my attention is the layer of adipose tissue beneath the skin. Yes, I’m talking about good old fat. Fat is where a good deal of the savoriness in pork chop is (whether fat has actual flavor I leave to the scientists).

Back in the days when people still hunted for food, pork was prized for its dietary fat. Fat provides energy and satiety (that feeling of being full) while regulating body temperature to keep one warm. Today in the US, swine are bred to have 75% less fat than they had in the 1950s. Thankfully, it is one facet of American food culture Filipinos have passed over.

Can you make out the fatty portion of that chop under the breading? I bet you can — it’s nearly 1:2 relative to the meat. Now that is what I consider the ideal ratio for pork chop. Not for me in which the fat looks like mere marbling; I might as well buy tenderloin. Same with belly. I have never been able to wrap my mind around the lean meat movement — there is more to food than just being sustenance, you know.

The new hire at the Metro meat counter obviously thought otherwise. In spite of my request to have the skin — “just the skin” — removed from the chops, he emerged from the back room holding what amounted to a huge medallion in one hand, and the skin and fat in the other. (“Like this?”) I had half a mind to ask for the supervisor, but he looked very earnest (and kinda cute, my friend Brenda pointed out).

“Tell me,” I said, “which part is the skin?”

He raised an index finger, tentatively pointed to the dermis.

“Very good. Now, what do you call this part below?”

He brought finger to lower lip. “Oh.”

“‘Oh’ is right. Let’s do this again: just the skin, okay?”

“Or you get a spanking,” Brenda offered. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”

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I have featured fried breaded pork chop before. This one has no egg in it.

Start by seasoning your chops with salt (two passes of the grinder on each side does it for me), granulated garlic or garlic powder, and ground black pepper. Let chops rest while you make some batter (overnight is better, but sometimes we don’t have the luxury). In a bowl, combine ½ cup all-purpose flour, 2 tablespoons cornstarch, 1 tablespoon granulated/powdered garlic, 2 teaspoons salt, ¼ teaspoon baking powder, and ⅛ teaspoon baking soda. Stir in ⅓ cup cold beer and whisk vigorously until mixture is more watery than pasty (add more beer, a teaspoon at a time, as needed).

(By the way, if you are worried about your pork chops curling up, see the video in this post (it also has other practical tips concerning this particular cut).)

To coat the chops, dredge first in flour. Shake off the excess powder before dipping in the beer batter mixture, holding chop by the flat end of the bone so as not to get any batter on your fingers. Let excess batter drip back into the bowl, then dredge chop in corn flour, again shaking off excess (you can use bread crumbs if you prefer).

Fry the chops over medium heat. It does not take long, so by the time they turn golden brown on both sides, they will have just cooked through, the meat still tender and moist. I may be obsessed about fat, but there is that, too. It’s my idea of a balanced meal. So spank me, ha-ha.