Vietnamese Pork Chops

Do you love pork chops, but are tired of just putting them in the oven with a little salt and pepper. Step out of your pork chop comfort zone and try grilling some Vietnamese Pork Chops.

Vietnamese Pork Chops

A few simple ingredients is all it takes to make a flavorful marinade for Vietnamese. It’s super simple marinade to put together in the morning and by the afternoon your grilling some top notch pork chops that taste like something you most likely have never experienced before. 

Vietnamese Pork Chop Marinade Ingredients

Vietnamese Pork Chop Marinade ingredients on cutting board

• Sweet Soy Sauce – This is the base of the sauce. Sweet Soy Sauce is a combination of soy sauce and palm sugar. It enhances the flavor of the pork as well as the sugars within the sauce encourage beautiful grill marks on your pork chop.
• Lemongrass Paste – Lemongrass Paste will brighten up your marinade with the subtle taste of lemon. It will not over power the soy sauce or the pork. Don’t worry about any bitter flavors either because although the paste will have hints of lemon flavor, it doesn’t have overpowering lemon flavor. The paste will help save time as well compared to chopping up fresh lemongrass which may be difficult to find.
• Ginger Garlic Paste – Ginger Garlic Paste is a staple in Indian Cooking. However, ginger is also very popular in Vietnamese cuisine. This paste is perfect in a pork chop marinade and brings nice garlic flavor as well as ginger.
• Star Anise Powder – Star Anise is often found in Vietnamese Cooking. It has an almost licorice type flavor that really compliments the soy sauce and pork.
• Cinnamon – Vietnamese Cinnamon is often found in Vietnamese cooking such as pho and soups. It provides a little extra depth of flavor and is fantastic in pork marinades.

What type of Pork Chop should be used for grilling?

Two Pork Chops sitting on a white plate

When grilling pork chops you have a few options for what type of chop to use. Shoulder chops would work because the marinade would tenderize the pork. Boneless Pork Chops would be fine as well. However, nothing beats a center cut bone in pork chop when grilling. The reason why is because it’s the perfect combination of fatty marbled meat on the outside of the chop along with a beautiful medallion of pork in the center of chop that is nice and tender from the marinade. Perfect!

How to grill Vietnamese Pork Chops

• First step is making sure you have a clean grill. The last thing you want is flare ups which will burn the sugar based marinade that only the chop.
• Once the gas grill is up to 400 degrees Fahrenheit, place the pork chop over direct heat on the grill grates. After grilling for 2 minutes rotate the chop 30 degrees and grill for another 2 minutes.
• While the pork chop is grilling, do not close the grill lid. The reason why is the marinade has a lot of sugar content, so flare ups can happen. It’s better to keep an eye on the chops and move them to a cooler part of the grill to prevent burnt meat.

Marinated Pork Chops on grill grates

• With a pair of tongs, flip the pork chop and grill for another 4 minutes.
• Remove the pork chop once you hit an internal temperature of 145 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Let the chop sit for five minutes. Garnish with chopped Cilantro and have fish sauce as a side dipping sauce.

Vietnamese Pork Chops

Tips for grilling Vietnamese Pork Chops

• Start with a clean grill. Dirty grill equals dirty food.
• Plan on staying near your grill while the pork chops cook. The marinade has a lot of sugar which can cause burnt meat if the grill flares up.
• Use tongs to flip the pork chops, not a fork!
• Bring the internal pork chop temperature of to 145 degrees Fahrenheit. This is the recommended minimum internal temperature of pork by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Thanks for checking out this post for Vietnamese Pork Chops. Next time your grilling step outside your pork chop comfort zone and put down the salt and pepper and try this flavorful grilled pork chop. Come back for more grilling suggestions from Sear Marks!

Print Recipe

Vietnamese Pork Chops

By Drew – Serves: 2

Prep Time: 4 hours – Cooking Time: 8 minutes

Do you love pork chops, but are tired of just putting them in the oven with a little salt and pepper. Step out of your pork chop comfort zone and try grilling some Vietnamese Pork Chops.

Ingredients

• 2 Bone In Pork Chops
• For Marinade
• 1/4 cup Sweet Soy Sauce
• 1 tablespoon LemonGrass Paste
• 1 tablespoon Ginger Garlic Paste
• 1 teaspoon Star Anise Powder
• 1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon
• Fresh Chopped Cilantro
• Fish Oil

Instructions

1

Place soy sauce, ginger garlic paste, lemongrass paste, cinammon and star anise powder in container.

2

Add pork chops and marinate in the refrigerator for 4 to 10 hours.

3

Remove pork chops from refrigerator and pat dry. Bring up to room temp.

4

Heat gas grill to 400 degrees Farenheit.

5

Place pork chops on grill grates over medium direct heat.

6

Watch the Vietnamese Pork Chops closely. Flare ups on the grill may happen because of the marinade.

7

After 2 minutes with the grill lid up rotate pork chops 30 degrees and grill for another 2 minutes.

8

With grilling tongs flip pork chops.

9

Grill another 4 minutes.

10

Once they hit an internal temp of 145 degrees Fahrenheit on the meat thermometer take the pork chops off the grill.

11

Let the pork chops sit for 5 minutes.

12

Serve with chopped fresh cilantro and side of fish sauce.

Notes

Grill the pork chops with the grill lid up. You really need to watch for grill flare ups with this recipe.