Recipe by Claire Ferrandi
Asian pork chops with sweet and salty watermelon pickle
Ingredients
- Watermelon pickle
- 225g sugar
- 125ml (½ cup) white wine vinegar
- 60ml (¼ cup) water
- 4 whole cloves
- 4 whole black peppercorns
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 5ml (1 tsp) garam masala
- pinch ground allspice
- pinch ground ginger
- 5ml (1 tsp) mustard seeds
- 5ml (1 tsp) fennel seeds
- 5ml (1 tsp) coriander seeds
- 500g watermelon, peeled and cubed
Asian pork chops
- 5ml (1 tsp) fresh ginger, peeled and minced
- 1 garlic clove, peeled and minced
- pinch dried chilli flakes
- 60ml (¼ cup) sesame oil
- 60ml (¼ cup) olive oil
- juice of 1 lemon
- 8 pork loin chops
- salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- handful spring onion, finely sliced lengthways and soaked in ice water to curl, to serve
- small handful fresh coriander, roughly chopped, to serve
Instructions
1
For the pickle, place all of the ingredients, except the watermelon, in a medium pot and boil for 2 minutes before adding the watermelon cubes. Boil to soften the watermelon, 20 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
2
For the pork chops, combine all of the ingredients, except the chops. Heat a pan over medium-high heat and brush the chops with the oil mixture. Fry until just cooked through, 2 minutes on each side. Season well to taste.
3
Serve the chops with the watermelon pickle, spring-onion curls and a sprinkling of fresh coriander.
