♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ -Today on "America's Test Kitchen," Elle makes Bridget Taiwanese fried pork chops... Jack talks all about bread crumbs... and Dan makes Julia sous vide boneless, thick-cut pork chops with red pepper and almond relish.

It's all coming up right here on "America's Test Kitchen."

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♪♪ -What are the three most magical words that this girl can hear?

Is it "I love you"?

Well, I do, but it's actually "fried pork chop."

Absolutely love them.

Crispy, crunchy.

Doesn't matter.

I'm going to come running.

Now, Elle's here, and she's going to show us a great version from Taiwan called zha paigu.

I can't wait to try this.

-You know, when I'm traveling, I'm always looking for the local food.

I want to eat what the locals are eating.

And in Taiwan, it's zha paigu.

-Okay.

-It's the "it" dish.

-It's the "it" dish?

-Yes.

-It's the today dish though, right?

-It is today's dish.

-Okay, good.

-And it starts with a pork chop but in a delicious sweet and savory marinade.

We're going to start with a tablespoon of soy sauce.

I also have 1 tablespoon of Taiwanese rice wine.

You can use saké or any clear rice wine.

1 1/2 teaspoons of sugar.

1 1/2 teaspoons of water.

3/4 teaspoons of Chinese five-spice.

-Mm.

-Very fragrant, I love it.

1/2 teaspoon of salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of white pepper.

-Alright.

That's some potent flavors in there.

-Oh, yeah.

And we kick it up a notch even more with 2 cloves of garlic, minced.

Alright.

Great.

Alright.

So I'm just going to give this a whisk.

So the use of pork in Taiwanese food cannot be overstated.

Very much a primary meat option.

And I'm not mad at it.

-No.

-Honestly.

So, we're going to start with two 8-ounce bone-in pork chops.

-Okay.

-Okay.

So what we need to do is we're going to cover this chop with some plastic.

-Okay.

-And we're going to flatten this chop to about 1/4 inch.

Bone is kind of our barrier.

So try to avoid it if you can.

-Okay.

You don't want any cracked bone.

-This also actually tenderizes the meat quite a bit.

-Well, what I love most of all is that you're creating more surface area for fried coating.

-Oh, yeah.

Oh, yes.

-Yeah.

-Alright.

I'm just going to give it a little measure.

That's it.

-1/4 inch?

-1/4 inch.

-Nice.

-Alright.

So chop one go in.

And we're just going to repeat the same step with the second chop.

-Okay.

-So, we're going to add this one also to the marinade.

Thank you.

Alright.

So I'm just going to make sure that each chop is fully coated with this marinade.

-And that's not a lot of marinade.

So it's really, really potent.

-Yeah, it's really potent.

You don't need a lot, but you do need to make sure that all the meat gets a good dose of it, right?

Alright.

That looks good.

They're both very well covered.

So we just need to cover it with plastic and put it in the fridge for at least an hour.

But up to four hours.

-Oh, great.

-Yeah.

Okay.

So it's been an hour.

And it's time to get these pork chops out of the marinade and ready to fry.

-Nice.

-So first we're going to start with 2 large eggs, right?

I'm just going to beat these eggs.

This is going to help our starch stick to the pork chops.

-I like that you're using a long dish to do this too because those pork chops were very long.

-Yeah, yeah.

You need room for the bone.

And I want crispy, craggy on the whole chop.

-All over.

-Yeah.

Alright, that looks good.

And you're probably wondering "What kind of starch are you using today, Elle?"

-Elle, what kind of starch are you using today?

-I'm so glad you asked.

We're using a cup of coarse sweet potato starch.

-Hmm.

I don't think I've ever used that before.

-I love it.

It is gluten-free, right?

Which is great for your gluten-free friends.

Also, um, it gives a very crispy exterior to the pork chop.

-Nice.

-Yep.

-I'm here for the crag.

-Okay, so these chops are going to go first into the egg.

And I know normally when we have marinated meat we usually dab off some of the marinade.

But in this case we're going to use this marinade to help the potato starch stick.

-Nice.

-Yeah.

-And it's going to be tasty.

I saw what you put in that marinade.

I do not want to get rid of any of it.

-Alright.

So I'm going to go right into starch.

Okay.

So I'm pressing down just to make sure that we get a good amount of coating on each side.

Okay.

So I'm going to just shake my dish to level out that starch again.

-Mm-hmm.

-And just press it again.

You can use your hands too, you know, if you feel like that's a -- a better tool.

I think that looks great.

-I think that looks beyond great.

-Alright.

Just shake it, any excess off.

Wow.

-Look how well-coated that is.

-Yeah, that's going to be tasty.

And we're just going to repeat the same process with the second chop.

-Okay.

-Okay.

Okay.

So zha paigu typically gets fried two times.

-Mm-hmm.

-We're going to do that today.

-Lovely.

-We have here 3 cups of vegetable oil.

And we need it to be at 350 degrees for this first fry.

So let's just check our temp.

Alright.

Almost there.

Alright.

It's at 350 degrees.

So we're going to do one chop at a time because they're pretty sizable.

-Okay.

Yes.

-Right?

Alright.

So in we go.

One minute on each side is all it takes for the first fry.

-Okay.

Literally fast food.

-Literally.

-Mm!

-Okay, great.

So that was one minute on the first side.

-Mm!

Wow.

-And one minute on this side.

And it's light now, but that second fry is really going to get us a nice golden exterior.

-Gotcha.

So this first fry is really more about setting the structure?

-Yes.

And drawing out moisture so that the starch can really do its job.

-Okay.

-Yeah.

Alright, one minute.

Let's get this one out.

We're just going to put it back here.

-And you're putting it back on there because you said we're going to fry it twice.

-Yep.

So before the second chop goes in, let's make sure that our oil is back to 350 degrees.

Alright.

So we're at 350 degrees.

-Nice.

-And our second chop can go in for first fry.

Again, another one minute on each side.

-Nice.

Oh, my goodness.

Mm.

-Alright.

So this is cooked for a minute on both sides.

It's ready to come out.

-Holy moly.

-That is gorgeous.

-Yes.

-Alright, so it's time for us to get ready for our second fry.

The second fry is going to draw out even more moisture, because we're going to kick the temperature up a notch to 375 degrees.

-Okay.

-We're at 375 degrees.

It's time for the second fry.

I'm going to start with the first chop.

[ Sizzling ] And again, just one minute on each side.

-Very different sound from the first fry, huh?

-Oh, yeah.

You can really hear that moisture getting zapped in there.

Okay, so that's been a minute.

Let's just flip it over for the second side of cooking.

-That did get some nice color on it.

-It really did.

It really did.

-But these aren't supposed to be too dark, right?

-No, no.

Just slightly golden.

-Okay.

-Yeah.

Oh, wow.

Look at this beauty.

It's done.

Look at that.

-Ah!

-What are you going to say?

-I'm going to say dinner's ready!

-Almost.

-Okay.

-We still have to fry our second chop.

Okay, so these chops have rested for five minutes.

-That was the longest five minutes of my entire life.

-Same, sis, same, same.

-Mm-hmm.

-But we're going to have pai gu fan.

-Okay.

-Right?

That's basically the rice.

-Fan.

Rice.

-Fan.

Rice.

-Got it, got it.

Alright.

So I'm going to start by trimming the meat off of the bone.

There we go, like so.

And then I'm going to slice it into 1/2-inch pieces.

-Okay.

-Right?

So two of us can share one pork chop... -[ Laughs ] -...in an ideal world.

-Right.

-Alright.

-[ Laughs ] That was my evil laugh.

-[ Laughs ] It was very sinister.

-Those chops were so thin that they cooked so quickly, but you still really got a great color on the crust.

-Look at that.

Beautiful.

So I'm excited because we have some traditional accoutrements for pai gu fan.

-Okay.

-Here I have some stir-fried cabbage.

We have some pickled mustard greens.

Pickled vegetable is very common with this.

-Gotcha.

-And finally, my favorite add to almost anything -- lu dan, which is basically a marinated egg.

-Oh, look how beautiful that is.

-Gorgeous.

-And you can find a recipe for the eggs on our website.

Loving your work here.

-I'm loving this too.

-Mmm.

Pork chop is deliciously moist.

Really well-seasoned.

-Yeah.

What's even better is how the coating sticks to the meat.

Like, no bite makes that craggy crust fall off.

-Mnh-mnh.

You're right.

-It's got staying power.

-It sure does.

-Yeah.

-It's beautiful.

The rice and the cabbage is gorgeous too.

Mmm!

Love the five-spice in here.

-And, you know, even though the marinade came across very potent in aroma, it's actually quite subtle on the fry.

-Yes.

Gives a lovely background note... -Yes.

-...to the beautiful craggy, crispy, crunchy crust.

-Oh, man.

-Cannot be overstated.

This is absolutely the best pork chop that we have ever made.

And it's all because of you.

-Thank you so much.

-Thank you.

And you definitely want to make these pork chops at home.

And it starts by pounding bone-in pork rib chops until very thin, coat the chops with sweet potato starch, and then fry them twice for a super-crisp crust.

So from "America's Test Kitchen," the finest fried pork chops in the world, zha paigu.

♪♪ -News flash from the test kitchen -- My colleagues are so particular, we will argue about bread crumbs.

Yes, bread crumbs.

In fact, we tasted six different brands along with fresh bread crumbs.

And the reason why it matters is because depending on the application, you're going to want a different crumb.

Now, let me start down here with fresh bread crumbs.

So this is our top rated sandwich bread by Arnold.

You're going to need a food processor, which I'm not that wild about.

You don't need to remove the crusts.

Grind it maybe 10 pulses.

You're going to get a sort of irregular, fairly coarse.

These are very soft, obviously, crumbs.

Now, there are three ways that we typically use bread crumbs.

The first is as a panade, inside meatballs or meatloaf.

And what the bread crumbs are doing is they're absorbing the liquid from the milk, creating a gel that not only creates sort of structure so that the meatball stays together, but it helps the meat retain moisture.

And so even though that meatloaf or meatball is cooked until it's well done, it's still tender and juicy.

That's the magic of bread crumbs.

These are wonderful as a panade.

They're not as good when it comes to a breading around a cutlet because they're so coarse.

You get irregular coating and you get splotchy.

And my colleagues don't want to see any chicken poking through.

They want all crust on the outside.

They do work well in the third application, which is on top of a casserole or maybe some macaroni and cheese.

Toast these crumbs in a skillet with some butter, sprinkle them over the casserole.

And they're more what I would call crisp crumbs rather than crunchy.

Next up, plain bread crumbs, and plain is really important.

No stale herbs here.

Now, we tested two brands, Progresso and 4C.

They were both fine, Progresso a slight favorite.

You're going to notice here they're very fine, very sandy, in fact.

They make a nice coating, breading, because they're very even.

So you get nice browning.

They don't make a great topping on a casserole or macaroni and cheese.

They're just too gritty and sandy, and they're not a very pleasant texture.

And they don't absorb liquid well in a panade.

They've got oil in them.

And so they just don't do as good a job as the fresh bread crumbs when it comes to meatloaf or meatballs.

Last but definitely not least, because of course I do have a favorite and it is the panko.

What I love about them is they've got a nice large sort of crumb on these.

We tested a variety of brands.

Kikkoman is our favorite because the crumb is kind of a medium size.

Some brands were actually kind of too crunchy and too large, and some were too fine.

Panko has got a really interesting sort of backstory in how they make it.

It's crustless bread, and rather than using radiant heat and baking it, they put the raw dough on a metal plate and then use electrical currents to bake the loaf.

And you don't have a crust.

The loaves are then dried and shredded.

This makes, I think, the best breading for a cutlet because it's really crispy.

It's my favorite on top of a casserole.

Same reason -- it's super crunchy rather than crispy like the fresh crumbs.

It's okay as a panade.

A little pro tip -- these crumbs, put them inside a zipper-lock bag and then whack them with a rolling pin and they'll get a little finer and they'll work better as a panade.

Panko will keep for a very long time in the pantry, which means it's super convenient and always on hand.

And if you want it to last forever, just keep it in the freezer.

So there you have it.

There's a reason to be particular about your bread crumbs.

♪♪ -When you cook sous vide, you have absolute control over the entire cooking process.

You control the cooking temperature within a few degrees.

You control the cooking environment because most of the food is put into an airtight container of some sort.

And of course, you control the cooking time, and it's that ratio of time to temperature that really transforms food, especially lean cuts of meat like pork chops, which is what Dan's going to show us how to cook today.

-That's right.

You know, when sous vide first came on the scene, it was like easy to find in home kitchens.

I feel like everyone wanted to use it for everything.

Like you cook your sausages and your brisket and whatever.

And I find there are certain uses that are great and others that I'd rather cook traditionally, but something like a thick-cut chop or a steak is perfect for it because it's very hard traditionally cooking to get it evenly cooked from edge to edge.

and that's what we want to do for these guys here.

So I have four 1/2-inch center-cut chops here.

-Mmm!

-Beautiful looking.

-Yeah, notoriously bland and hard to cook because they dry out so quickly.

-It's true.

It's true.

So I'm going to season them up with some salt and pepper.

Seasoning before sous vide is always a good idea.

I'm using 1 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper.

Beautiful.

-Mm-hmm.

-Okay, so good.

I'm popping these into our Ziploc bag here.

-A nice heavy-duty one.

-Nice heavy-duty one.

And I've already done this before here.

So I've cuffed the bag.

That means any pork that I get on here is going to just be here as opposed to in this zone.

So it's going to make it hard to seal.

-Right.

And sealing it is really important because you're going to be submerging it in water.

-Yes.

Exactly.

Alright.

So I have 1/4 cup of vegetable oil here.

Now, here is something where you could play with it a lot in terms of, you know, butter or extra virgin olive oil, that sort of thing.

We're keeping it really simple.

It is changeable.

So it does a couple of things.

It keeps them separate from one another.

So you have a little bit of gap there.

So they're not kind of bonded and get misshapen... -Oh, interesting.

-...while they're in there.

It also allows us -- so I'll uncuff now -- to fill in some gaps that would otherwise be filled with air.

-Ah!

-So I'm going to press down and really press that oil into any of the gaps.

So we want as much air out of here as possible.

You know, the benefit of like vacuum sealing and stuff like that, it's really just about getting the air out so that you get really good contact between the meat and the water, so things cook really evenly.

If you have an air pocket, it can be like an insulator.

So it slows down cooking that one spot.

Right.

And then what I'm going to do is flip this over, keep pressing and then I'm going to seal my bag.

So what I'm going to do now is I'm going to lower it into the water.

And water will help displace some of the extra air that is trapped in there.

-Mm-hmm.

-So I like to really massage it in.

And this water is at 140 degrees.

So it's hot, but you know, it's manageable and let that kind of come up here.

So then I just open up this little corner here, press that air right into it and let that escape and then do my final seal on it.

-Nicely done.

-So here, you know, we have a pretty small bath.

We don't have to worry about it floating too far away, but I am just going to clip it to the side.

-Mm-hmm.

-It's just a little bit of added insurance that the bag doesn't slip in and at some point get that water in there.

-So 140.

Now, when it comes to sous vide, everyone talks about what temperature you cook what at.

So 140 for boneless pork chops?

-You know, so you have a lot of options here.

If you like your pork done a little bit less than that, you could do 130, 135.

140 is a really nice temperature for lean pork.

So that's what we're going to go for.

-Okay.

And for how long?

-So this needs to be in here for at least two hours.

Up to three hours is great.

And we know that, you know, it's slowly cooking.

There's no chance that it's going to overcook because it's sitting at 140 degrees.

But they're pretty thick and they're straight out of the fridge.

So we want to give them time to do that.

-Now, what happens if you go longer than three hours?

Because that's the thing, right?

It's time and temperature.

-That's true.

For something like this, at 140 degrees, not a lot is going to change over three hours.

So you definitely have some more flexibility.

So while that happens we're going to pop over here.

And we're talking about flavor.

These are, you know, pretty, pretty mild seasoning.

We have plenty of salt and pepper on there, so they're gonna be nicely seasoned.

But here's we're going to add a lot of extra flavor into it.

We'll make a nice relish.

So we're starting with 1/2 cup of jarred roasted red peppers that we just chopped up like that.

This is going to be almost like a romesco but a little bit looser and chunkier, more relish.

-Oh, yeah.

-Now, I have 1/4 cup of slivered almonds that have been toasted and chopped.

I have 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil.

I like a really peppery one here, so if you have one at home, that's the one to go for.

I have 2 tablespoons of fresh parsley, 1 tablespoon of white wine vinegar for some nice acidity.

And I have a teaspoon of fresh oregano.

Finally 1/4 teaspoon of salt.

And this is a real simple one.

We're just going to stir it together.

So we're going to have something that's, you know, great for a weeknight meal, beautiful for company.

But it's not a ton of work.

They don't need to know that.

But it's not a ton of work.

-[ Laughs ] -So this is perfect.

We'll let this sit while our pork goes for another about two to three hours.

Okay, so it has been two hours.

And we know that our pork is done.

The beauty of sous vide.

-Yeah.

The beauty of sous vide.

-So I'm going to get them out of the bag.

-So, when you're cooking traditionally like on a stovetop, you want to cook the chops until they register 140 degrees.

But here, because that was the cooking temperature, they're already done.

-That's right.

As long as you leave them there long enough to hit that temperature, nothing else to worry about.

-Alright.

-Okay.

Great.

So I'm going to let these pork chops rest.

We always let meat rest.

Usually it's for carryover cooking purposes, right, where we've pumped a ton of heat into the exterior of a chop or a roast and that heat continues to move inside and bring the internal temperature up.

Here we don't have that issue.

They're 140 degrees from edge to edge in every direction.

So the resting here is really about evaporation and getting rid of some moisture.

So we've got a paper towel underneath to wick some away.

And I'm hitting them on top with a paper towel as well.

But we'll let them sit for about 5 to 10 minutes.

And then they are going to be much drier and they'll sear much better.

-Alright.

-So, I've got a tablespoon of oil, neutral oil, here over medium-high heat.

And we're just going to get smoking.

And then we're going to add two of our chops in.

-Now, by neutral oil, you mean like a vegetable oil?

-Exactly.

Yep.

So a nice high smoke point.

[ Light sizzling ] And you can hear the sizzle but not too much.

And that's because we got rid of so much of that liquid.

Otherwise it might be like splatter, splatter, splatter all over the place.

-Now, why two at a time?

-So we don't want to overcrowd the pan.

This is really high and fast cooking.

We don't want to cook underneath the pork chop at all.

And so if you use a big skillet with four of them, you can tank the temperature a lot and extend the cooking time.

-Gotcha.

-We're really looking at 1 to 2 minutes per side on both of these.

Okay.

So as they cook, I like to pick them up usually about halfway through and let the oil redistribute underneath it, because that's making the great contact between the skillet and the meat.

-And that's just a good cooking technique whenever you're sautéing anything.

The oil gets pushed out from underneath whatever it is you're cooking and you want to redistribute it.

-Okay, so it's been about 2 minutes, and we've got some really nice browning.

-Mm!

-And the key here is really all about visual.

Like, you're looking for the right color.

-Mm-hmm.

-We're not worried about getting the internal temperature right because we did all that work before.

-It's just for the browning for the flavor.

-Exactly.

Okay.

We'll take them out over to this plate.

That looks beautiful.

-Mm-hmm.

-Great.

Okay.

So now another tablespoon of oil in our skillet.

-That skillet is hot.

Keep it hot.

-Very hot.

And we'll go in with our last two.

While I cook these last two, would you mind covering these with foil?

Just kind of tenting them to keep them nice and warm.

-You bet.

-Thank you.

So, I'm going to continue to do the same thing with these chops, 1 to 2 minutes a side, making sure that oil goes underneath.

And then we'll get them out and we're ready to eat.

-Alright.

Mmm!

Smells good.

-I know, right?

Okay.

They're beautiful on the bottom now too.

-Alright.

I love that you can go right from searing to serving.

-And so that means you can actually get a crust, right?

Normally you sear or you let it rest and it's beautiful, but it's a little bit sogged out.

-Mm-hmm.

So you know my husband, Ian, his nickname is "Pork Chop."

Right?

Because he loves pork chops.

We cook a lot of pork chops.

-Do you?

-Yeah.

And I know it's really hard to get a pork chop that looks that good.

I'm going to go for this little bit here because I know.

Oh, perfectly cooked through!

-Beautiful.

-Mm-hmm.

Mmm!

Mm-hmm.

-That's a nice pork chop.

-That is a perfect pork chop.

There's really no other way to get this cut of meat this juicy and this perfectly done.

-You know, look at that juiciness.

Right?

It's unbelievable.

And that is just the right temperature for the piece of pork.

-Mm-hmm.

-You try that sauce yet?

-I love it.

-Peppers and almonds are such a good combination.

And yeah, it's got good acidity because, you know, this is a relatively lean cut.

But we cooked it in a lot of fat and it's got juiciness to it.

So you want something to counter that.

-Yeah.

Yeah, it does have that romesco-like quality to it.

-Mm-hmm.

-Dan, this is not only incredibly easy, it is perfection.

Thank you.

-You're welcome.

-If you want to make this simple but superb pork chop, start by sealing 1 1/2-inch-thick boneless pork loin chops into a bag, removing as much of the air as possible.

Cook the chops at 140 degrees for 2 to 3 hours, then pat them dry thoroughly before searing in batches.

From "America's Test Kitchen," a perfect recipe for sous vide boneless, thick-cut pork chops.

You can get this recipe and all the recipes from this season, along with our product reviews and select episodes at our website, americastestkitchen.com/tv.

Ian's gonna go nuts for this.

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