Vietnamese Grilled Lemongrass Pork Chops
These grilled pork chops are full of sweet and savory flavors and infused with lemongrass fragrance. This is one of the easiest Vietnamese restaurant dishes to make at home.
Prep Time10 minutes mins
Cook Time5 minutes mins
Total Time4 hours hrs 15 minutes mins
Course: Main Dish
Cuisine: Vietnamese
Keyword: grilled pork chops, lemongrass pork chops
Servings: 2 people
Calories: 545kcal
- 1 - 2 stalk of lemongrass
- 4 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
- 3 1/2 tablespoons oyster sauce
- 2 1/2 tablespoons honey
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 1/2 tablespoons minced shallot
- black pepper
- 1 lb thin-cut pork chops
- 1 tablespoon cooking oil
Peel off 2-4 outer layers which are dry from the lemongrass. Cut off the bulb and the green skinny upper part. Keep the white and light green part (about 5 to 6-inch long next to the bulb). Smash and then slice thinly and finely mince. You need 1/4 cup of minced lemongrass so use 1 - 2 stalks depending on size.
In a mixing bowl, mix together soy sauce, oyster sauce and honey. Taste and adjust to your liking. Add lemongrass, garlic, shallot, black pepper. Add pork chops to the bowl (or you can pour marinade into a Ziploc bag and put the pork chops in there) and mix. Add 1 tablespoon of oil, mix and put in the refrigerator to marinate for 4-6 hours.
Remove the pork chops from the refrigerator and preheat the grill to high heat. When the grill is ready, shake off the minced aromatics in the marinade from the pork chops and grill each side 1 1/2 minutes or until fully cooked. The amount of time depends on the thickness of your chops.
Transfer to clean plates and serve immediately.
- You can serve the pork chops with rice, a fried egg, egg meatloaf and scallion oil. To make the scallion oil, thinly slice 2-3 stalks of scallions, heat 2 tablespoons of oil over medium heat and when the oil is hot, add scallions, cook for 20-30 seconds and transfer to a clean bowl.
- If you want to make this with thick pork chops, you may need to adjust the temperature of the grill. I think you can add 1/2 - 1 tablespoon of lime juice to the marinade to tenderize the thick pork chops more.
- I don't use fish sauce in the marinade. What I learn is the fish sauce gives the pork chops a sour tinge and sharp taste, which makes the dish slightly less delicious. If you want to try, reduce soy sauce by 1/2 tablespoon, oyster sauce by 1/2 tablespoon and add 1 tablespoon of fish sauce. Taste and adjust to your liking.
Calories: 545kcal | Carbohydrates: 32g | Protein: 52g | Fat: 23g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 152mg | Sodium: 2039mg | Potassium: 983mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 23g | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 39mg | Iron: 3mg