Lemongrass pork chops, or Thit Heo Nuong Xa, is one of the easiest Vietnamese dishes to make at home. It’s not like Pho where you have to spend hours simmering down an aromatic stock. Nor do you have to source any special ingredients like pate for Bhan Mi or rice paper warpers for making spring rolls. All you need is some pork chops, a few simple ingredients to make a marinade, and a hot grill to make this delicious dish.
Tips, Tricks & Suggestions
- This same marinade works great with other cuts of meat, especially chicken.
- If it is too cold outside to grill then simply cook the pork chops in a pan with a little bit of oil.
- While it’s not traditional I sometimes like to add one to two minced Thai chili pepper to the marinade. It just adds a little bit more flavor to the dish and a nice kick of heat.
- Pork chops have a tendency to curl up when they are cooked which can lead to uneven browning/charring. The main culprit behind this phenomenon is the thin layer of fat that surrounds the outside of the pork chop. You see when that layer of fat is cooked and rendered it tends to become taut which leads to the pork chop curling. Luckily you can easily solve this issue by scoring the fat around the outside of the pork chops with a sharp knife every half inch or so.
- Lemongrass pork chops are often served with a dipping sauce called Nuoc Cham. If you got the time and would like to make some of this sauce then I suggest you check out this authentic recipe from Hungry Huy.
Lemongrass Pork Chops Recipe
Prep time: 2 hours (mainly for marinating)
Cook time: 12 minutes
Servings: 4
Ingredients
3 to 4 Pork chops
Lemongrass marinade:
2 Stalks of lemongrass, finely minced
3 to 4 Cloves of garlic, finely minced
1 Small shallot, finely minced
1½ Tablespoons of sugar
1½ Tablespoons of fish sauce
1 Tablespoon of neutral-flavored oil
2 Teaspoons of soy sauce
Pinch or two of black pepper
Instructions
- Make the marinade by combining all of the ingredients in a bowl and stirring them until the sugar has dissolved. Or you can make it easy on yourself and simply add the ingredients to a food processor and blend until it forms a puree.
- Marinate the pork chops: Add the pork chops and the marinade to a large plastic bag, and toss until the marinade coats the pork chops.
Set this in your fridge to marinate for at least 2 hours, but preferably overnight. Then simply take the pork chops out of the fridge 30 to 45 minutes before cooking so that they get to room temperature.
- Grill the pork chops: Set your grill to high heat and let it warm up for at least 10 minutes. Then place the pork chops on the grill and let them cook for about 5 to 6 minutes on each side.
However, if you are using thick cut pork chops this cooking time might be longer. Just make sure that your pork chops have an internal temperature of 150 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Serve your lemongrass pork chops with some rice and enjoy!
Lemongrass Pork Chops Recipe
Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 3 to 4 Pork chops
Lemongrass marinade:
- 2 Stalks of lemongrass finely minced
- 3 to 4 Cloves of garlic finely minced
- 1 Small shallot finely minced
- 1½ Tablespoons of sugar
- 1½ Tablespoons of fish sauce
- 1 Tablespoon of neutral-flavored oil
- 2 Teaspoons of soy sauce
- Pinch or two of black pepper
Instructions
- Make the marinade by combining all of the ingredients in a bowl and stirring them until the sugar has dissolved.
- Marinate the pork chops: Add the pork chops and the marinade to a large plastic bag, and toss until the marinade coats the pork chops. Set this in your fridge to marinate for at least 2 hours, but preferably overnight. Then simply take the pork chops out of the fridge 30 to 45 minutes before cooking so that they get to room temperature.
- Grill the pork chops: Set your grill to high heat and let it warm up for at least 10 minutes. Then place the pork chops on the grill and let them cook for about 5 to 6 minutes on each side. However, if you are using thick cut pork chops this cooking time might be longer. Just make sure that your pork chops have an internal temperature of 150 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Serve your lemongrass pork chops with some rice and enjoy!
