Coldrun Cooking - Part 2: Pork Chops

Two attempts at cooking some thin pork chops.


I was inspired to do this by an episode of "Food Wars!" The main character had to learn to cook bear meat for a competition and never tried it before. All he did to get a first sense of the meat was put it in a frying pan add some salt, and eat it when it was cooked.

It inspired me because of how simple just getting food to an edible and reasonably tasty state can be. You don't need to do weird preparations and use a million different knife skills and spice combos. Those are improvements on a base, and I want to practice that base before improving things.

If I want to learn to cook, I gotta just start cooking. Taking food, applying heat, adding some flavors that sounds good, and figuring out the rest later.

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Attempt #1

Trying out stove top pork chops. Not following a precise recipe for this. Just going to put it on the stove, medium heat, and try to get it to reach 145 degrees.

Ingredients

• Two pork chops, <1" thick.
• Cooking oil. I used olive oil cause I was out of vegetable oil.
• Butter.
• Low-sodium soy sauce.
• Salt, pepper.

Steps

• Heat a bit of oil on medium for ~3 minutes.
• Add pork chops, and add a bit of butter. Season with salt and pepper.
• Cook for 3 minutes, then flip. Season other side with salt and pepper.
• Cook for another 3 minutes. Add some soy sauce, a bit more butter.
• Flip once more, cook another 4 minutes.
• Measure temp to ensure it's at 145F, then let it sit for a few minutes.

This was tasty! Plain but juicy. Any past attempts at pork chops usually end up dry. Using a meat thermometer was perfect.


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Attempt #2

Going to bake it this time. 400 degrees, check it in about 12-13 minutes.


Ingredients

• Two pork chops, <1" thick.
• Olive oil.
• Low-sodium soy sauce.
• Salt, pepper.

Steps

• Pre-heat oven to 400F.
• Season both sides of pork chops with oil, soy sauce, salt, pepper. 
• Pop in the oven for 13 minutes, then check the internal temp. Cook another couple of minutes if it's <145F.

I cooked it 12 minutes, at which point it was 165F. Next time, stop at 10 minutes if the chops are this thin.

So a bit overcooked, but still juicy and tasty. Had it with some instant mashed potatoes and microwaved vegetables. Next time I'll bake it for closer to 10 minutes.

The pan-fried one had a nicer texture and crust to it, but they were both tasty!