Oven Baked Sticky Pork Chops

Name: Oven Baked Sticky Pork Chops
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 60 min
Total time: 70 min
Ingredients: 2 tomahawk pork chops (| or use 4 normal pork chops); 1 brown onion (| finely diced); 3 cloves garlic (| finely chopped); 2 tablespoons (US - 2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons) brown sugar (| packed); 1 orange (| juice and peel (remove as much white pith as possible)); 3 tablespoons kecap manis (| sweet soy sauce ); 2 tablespoons soy sauce; 1 tablespoon smoked vinegar (| optional); 3 cloves garlic (| finely chopped); 1 orange (| juice and peel (remove as much white pith as possible)); 4 tablespoons kecap manis (| sweet soy sauce); 2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons soy sauce; 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon smoked vinegar (| optional)

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Finger licking delicious oven baked sticky pork chops. Baked in a luscious orange soy sauce with a generous amount of garlic. Plus I use one of my secret pantry "weapons" to flavour enhance this easy dinner recipe to another level.

These sticky pork chops look humongous in the photos because they are, they're tomahawk pork chops. Rest assured knowing that this recipe is just as delicious using pork cuts like loin or butterfly steaks, pork cutlets, or chops.

I used blood oranges as they were season. As with all my blood orange recipes, standard oranges work perfectly as well.

If using smaller cuts of pork you could easily make this a one-pan meal. No matter which cut you go for you will love these oven baked sticky pork chops. You may also like my tomahawk pork chops with orange, rosemary, and garlic recipe.

Sara xxx

Ingredients

Soy Sauce: Use standard soy sauce or light soy sauce.
Garlic: Substitute a tablespoon of pre crushed garlic from a jar if perferred.
Blood Orange: As blood oranges are seasonal you can substitute a general orange. Mandarin also works really well with this recipe.
Brown Sugar: Standard brown sugar is used, but If you would like an even deeper caramel flavour to the sauce use dark brown sugar.
Smoked Vinegar: This is purely optional, I realise not everyone has it in their cupboard or may find it hard to obtain. Substitute apple cider vinegar.
Onion: Brown, but white or yellow can be used instead.
Kecap Manis: Is a prominent ingredient in this recipe, if you can find it, use it. If not substitute 1 tablespoon (USA 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon) of oyster sauce, and 2 teaspoons dark brown sugar. Alternatively use Hoisin sauce. Using either alternatives will result in a different, but just as delicious recipe.
Pork Chops: Tomahawk chops are a pork chop where the butcher has left the rib on the loin chop, making for a large chop cut of pork. Any chop or steak style pork cut can be used for this recipe.

What is Smoked Vinegar?

There are a couple of smoked vinegars on the market, including smoked balsamic vinegar. The one that I use is Akasu Smoked Vinegar from Japan. It can be purchased at Japanese grocers or specialty food shops.

It is traditionally made by a three year fermention process where sake is poured into ceramic pots and left to ferment. After three years it is then placed into pressurised barrels and compressed for three months. This matures the flavour before smoking with cherry blossom wood chips.

The result is a sour smoky vinegar with high acidity. The aroma is sensational and I love the taste. It is a wonderful vinegar to have in your cupboard to give new life to simple dishes. A comforting favourite is a sprinkle on hot chips (fries) with salt.

Accompanying Side Dish Suggestions

These sticky pork chops marry well with numerous sides. From a simple salad, or rice, right through to roast vegetables. A few of my favourites are suggested below.

Fried Rice works well with the Asian flavours in this recipe.
As far as salads go try a crisp green salad accompanied with either Hawaiian Macaroni Salad or Brocollni Slaw.
Super crunchy Parmentier Potatoes, and a medly of roast vegetables make for a delicious oven baked meal.

Recipe Instructions

Scroll to the bottom of the page for a printable version of this recipe.

Place garlic, brown sugar, orange juice, kecap manis, soy sauce, and smoked vinegar in a bowl. Mix well until the sugar has dissolved, add peel, then set aside.

Pre-heat oven 180°C/360°F

In a large frypan brown pork chops on a medium-high heat. To avoid crowding the pan brown one tomahawk pork chop at a time.

If using normal size pork chops brown two at a time.

You aren't cooking the chops all the way through, only browning for colour and taste.

Place browned chops in an oven-proof baking dish and set aside.

Without cleaning the pan add diced onions. cook onions on medium heat until softened.

Scrape up all the brown bits (fond) leftover from cooking the pork as you do.

Add sauce mixture with orange peel to the pan. Bring to the boil and simmer for 2 minutes.

Cover pork chops with the baking dish's lid, or with a double layer of aluminium foil. Place in the oven and bake for 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes remove the lid or foil from the baking dish. Bake pork chops for a further 10 minutes.

Then turn the pork chops over in the baking dish and cook for a further 10 minutes.

Once cooked remove pork from the oven. Cover and leave to rest for 10 minutes before serving with the sauce from the roasting pan.

Sara's Top Recipe Tips

Is the sauce a little too runny?

Sometimes when I make this recipe I find the sauce the sticky pork chops are cooked in can be a little too runny for my liking when serving. This can be due to the water content of the pork, or simply super juicy oranges.

The easiest solution is to pour the sauce into a saucepan while the pork is resting after cooking. Bring the sauce to a simmer and reduce until it thickens slightly.