From the Kitchen of Mama Wong - Part 4

Pork Chops in Ketchup

Feeling kinda low right now, so I've decided to bring this dish to the table in a bid to cheer myself up. This is the first dish Mama Wong taught me, and it's kinda the longest dish to prepare. Trust me, it'll be worth it when you're done.

Ingredients -
4 - 8 Pork Slices (五花)
Potatoes (4-5 depending on how much you love em)
Onions (2 whole)
Garlic (2 cloves)
Tomatoes (2 whole, quartered)
Ketchup (about a half bottle)
Oyster Sauce (like 2 tablespoons I think)
Light Soy Sauce (1 cap full)
Pepper (a pinch)
Sugar (to taste, but definately less than the pepper)

All set? Here we go. It's gonna be a three-stop process.

Dunkin Pork Chops
Wash the pork and slice em into thin slices about 5mm thick. Alternatively you can ask the butcher to slice em up for you. Next thing to do would be to tenderize the pork by smashing them up. Now's a good time to release all your frustration and anger onto the pieces of meat coz you want them as tender as possible. One and two and pound and four!

When you're done beating the crap out of the pork, raid your cupboards for oyster sauce, pepper, a single egg (we're only going to use the white), and a little soy sauce. Mix em up with the pork and throw it into the fridge for an hour.

We'll get started on the potatoes now.

I like Em Soft and Salted
Wash and peel the potatoes. Sharpen that knife and prepare to wedge em. You'll probably get 3-4 wedges per half. Once you've gotten the wedges done, fire up the wok.

Well, a deep fryer would do as well, but I like em soft so that they'll mix well with the sauce later. No point getting them all fluffy and crunchy just so you can soak them later.

Bring the oil to a boil (skip this chapter if you're using a deep fryer. I promise not to make fun of you), and then plop in the wedges under a medium heat. Be sure to dry them before they enter the oil if you want to prevent splatter (hah, guess I should've told you that earlier huh). In about 5 minutes you can flip em over. Once they all done you should be able to catch the distinctive smell - that's the smell of potatoes turning into wedges.

Once they're all done, we move on to the pork. Get your protective gear if you're afraid of oil splatter. And this one's for those using fryers - chicken.

If You Can't Stand The Heat
Take the pork out and have a whiff - they've been basking in the marinate for a good hour and should be smelling divine. Keep the image of the finished delicacy in your head coz you're gonna need an initiative to get the next step done.

For people with deep fryers, you're getting away from this one. Time to face the (oily) music.

Fire up the oil once more and throw in the pork. I'm gonna give an oil warning here - a lot of splattering will happen, especially if you're using frozen pork.

Cook the porkers till one side is done and then flip for the other half. Once all's done, set aside and we'll move on to the sauce. We'll talk about cleaning the floor later.

Orange, and Warm, and Poured All Over
With a lot less oil this time, fire up the trusty wok for one last time. Throw in the onions and garlic and toss em around till you're fragrant. Oh, the garlic before the onions, sorry.

Next we add in the ketchup - half of the bottle. Mix in about half a cup of water to your desired viscosity. Cook to a boil and add in the sugar. Do a little taste test to make sure it's good (you can add in more water, more sugar, or more ketchup), and then throw in the pork.

Mix well, and then throw in the potatoes.

Mix weller, and then serve.

Tada! Now all you have to worry about is the oily floor and the filthy kitchen top.