Boneless pork chops or steaks cooked in this spicy rum and sugar glaze take on a typically tropical taste that reminds me of when I was a young boy and we had summer parties in the garden. My uncles would walk through the front door, smell the cooking and call out ‘Peppy (my Mum), the pork calypso smell sweeeet!’. Make sure that the chops or steaks are about 2.5 cm (1 in) thick so that they stay nice and juicy during cooking.
Serves 4
4 x 175 g (6 oz) boneless pork chops or steaks
2.5 cm (1 in) fresh root ginger, peeled and finely grated
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tablespoons dark muscovado sugar
2 tablespoons sunflower oil
a good pinch of allspice
2 tablespoons dark rum
2 tablespoons pineapple juice
Mix the ginger, garlic, sugar, oil, allspice, rum and pineapple juice together in a shallow dish.
Add the pork to the marinade, turn once or twice in the mixture, cover and leave to marinate at room temperature for 2 hours or overnight in the fridge.
Barbecue the chops over medium-hot coals for 6–7 minutes on each side, basting with the leftover marinade now and then. These would be nice served with Peppy’s Jamaican Rice and Peas here or the Caribbean Mixed Bean and Cashew Nut Salad here plus some calypso music, several uncles and plenty of Rum Pu-Punch here.
Cheesy Mush-stuffed Pork Chops
If you’re one of those people who enjoy a good cheesy stuffing, you’ll love these pork chops. Buy chops that are at least 2.5 cm (1 in) thick for this recipe so that you have enough meat in which to make a pocket for stuffing.
Serves 4
4 x 200 g (7 oz) thick loin pork chops
salt and freshly ground pepper
For the cheese and mushroom stuffing
1 small onion, very finely chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
100 g (4 oz) button or chestnut mushrooms, finely chopped
100 g (4 oz) Cheddar, finely grated
2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage
4 fine metal trussing skewers or cocktail sticks soaked in cold water for 30 minutes
Make a horizontal cut through the fatty side of each chop into the eye of the meat almost through to the bone. Open up the meat into a pocket with your fingers.
For the stuffing, fry the onion in the oil for 5 minutes until soft and lightly browned. Add the mushrooms and fry for another 3–4 minutes until all the juices have evaporated and you are left with a thick mixture. Scrape it into a bowl and leave to cool.
Stir the grated cheese, sage and some seasoning into the mushroom mixture.
Spoon some of the stuffing into the pocket of each chop and secure the edges with a skewer or cocktail stick.
Season the chops on both sides with salt and pepper and barbecue over medium-hot coals for 20 minutes, turning frequently, until the pork is cooked through and the cheese in the centre has melted. Yummy ... now, get ready for lift off.
This dish needs to be cooked in a covered barbecue using the indirect method (see here). Ask a butcher to prepare the right cut of pork for you because you will not be able to find it in an ordinary supermarket. Ask him for a skinned and rolled loin of pork made up of just the ‘eye’ of the meat. This does away with most of the fat, leaving a lean joint, which goes superbly with the Thai flavoured marinades. I know it’s a little extravagant but boy, is it worth it!
Serves 6
900 g (2 lb) boned, skinned and rolled loin of pork
2 tablespoons sunflower oil
½ teaspoon prepared tamarind from a jar
1 teaspoon prepared minced lemongrass from a jar
120 ml (4 fl oz) water
75 ml (3 fl oz) canned coconut milk
½ tablespoon palm or light muscovado sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
For the dry marinade
1 teaspoon chopped fresh coriander
1 teaspoon chopped fresh basil
1 teaspoon desiccated coconut
½ teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon hot chilli powder
1 tablespoon palm or light muscovado sugar
½ teaspoon salt
For the wet marinade
1 green finger chilli, seeded and roughly chopped
2 garlic cloves
2 shallots or ½ small red onion
25 g (1 oz) ground almonds
25 g (1 oz) fresh root ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
1 fresh kaffir lime leaf or 1 strip pared lime zest, chopped
Mix the dry marinade ingredients together in a large bowl. Add the pork and give it a few turns so that it becomes well coated in the mixture. Cover and set aside at room temperature for 1 hour.
Meanwhile, put the wet marinade ingredients into a food processor and blend to a smooth paste.
Heat the oil in a frying pan. Add the spice paste, tamarind and lemongrass paste and fry for about 3 minutes until the mixture splits away from the oil. Add the water and simmer for 2 minutes.
Add the coconut milk, sugar and salt and simmer for a further 2 minutes. Taste the sauce and adjust the seasoning if necessary.
Prepare your barbecue for the indirect method of cooking (see here).
Pour the wet marinade over the pork and turn the pork once or twice until well coated. Place the pork directly over the drip tray, cover the barbecue with the lid and cook the pork for 1–1¼ hours, spooning over the remaining wet marinade now and then, until the juices run clear when the centre of the pork is pierced with a thin skewer.
Transfer the pork to a board, cover with a sheet of foil and leave the meat to relax for 5 minutes. Carve it into thin slices and serve.