You know you have a hit on your hands when there are no leftovers. And such was the case tonight. It’s been a while since I last made these pork chops for the family (a year almost to the day). I’m not sure why we don’t have them more often. They are super yummy and fairly easy to make. Okay, so it does take about 45 minutes from prep to table, which might not be “quick” enough for a weekday meal after a long day’s work. The prep work is simply, just a little chopping and a little mixing. Most of the ingredients you probably already have in the cupboard anyway, so no special trip to the market scouring the aisles for “special” fixings. The sauce is wonderful – a little sweet, a little salty. It goes well spooned over the steamed rice. The first time I made this, I was a bit hesitant – pineapple over rice? So I served the rice on the side. Not tonight. The chops went into a rimmed serving platter, surrounded by a ring of sticky-steamed rice and the sauce was generously poured over the chops, seeping into the rice while leaving plenty of sauce in the platter to add as desired.
Just a quick note before we get down to cooking – when a recipe calls for canned pineapple, I always use Dole. Maybe that’s because it’s what I grew up with, but I like the look of their canned pineapple over the bargain brands.
Ingredients – Steamed Rice
1 Cup White Rice, uncooked
Steam rice. according to rice maker’s directions. While rice is steaming, make pork chops.
Ingredients – Polynesian Pork Chops
4-6 Pork Chops, boneless, about 1/2 to 3/4″ thick
1 teaspoon garlic powder
salt & pepper to taste
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 Large Shallot, chopped
1 Can Condensed Golden Mushroom Soup
1/4 Cup water
20 oz Pineapple Rings with juice
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon honey
3 green onions, sliced
Season pork chops with garlic powder, salt and pepper, set aside until ready to use.
Remove 4 pineapple rings from can, set aside for garnish. Chop remaining pineapples into chunks.
In a bowl, mix soup, water, pineapple chunks with juice, soy sauce, onions and honey. Set aside until ready to use.
Heat oil in skillet until shimmering but not smoking. Sear pork chops, about 2-3 minutes per side.
Reduce heat to medium and pour soup mixture over pork. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer 30 minutes or until done.
Uncover pork chops, increase heat to medium and allow sauce to thicken a little, about 10 minutes longer.
While sauce is thickening, slice green onions for garnish.
Transfer pork chops to large rimmed serving platter. Mound rice around pork chops. Spoon sauce around and over pork chops. Sprinkle with green onions and garish with remaining pineapple rings.
