This Macau-style pork chop sandwich recipe is a spicy retort to conventionalism based on Anthony Bourdain’s favorite sandwich.
If you’re at all familiar with our website and our focus on travel and food, and everything that combines those two things. And if you love food and travel, it should come as no surprise that we’re big fans of the work of Anthony Bourdain.
Whether we’re dipping into Peruvian cuisine or enjoying the sour delights of Filipino sinigang, Bourdain’s passion for culinary delights, both simple and extreme, is never far from our hearts. And we work hard to let those passions flow through in our writing and recipes.
Anthony Bourdain encapsulates the passion for travel and storytelling that inspires countless people to shake free from their comfort zone and explore the world, both near and abroad. And, from his experience as a gifted chef, it’s no surprise that he spent much of his travel focus on the cuisine, both high and low, of the destinations that he traveled to.
Before his tragic death in 2018, Bourdain had amassed a massive collection of stories, memoirs, cookbooks, television shows, and movies that encompassed the experiences that shaped his life. One of the last books that this legend of travel had published was his award-winning “Appetites: A Cookbook.”
The celebrated cookbook was packed with insight into Bourdain’s favorite dishes. And among some of the most magnificent dishes from around the world that Appetites explores, one simple dish stood out.
Among a dazzling array of dishes from around the world, this simple and delightful Macau-style pork chop sandwich recipe was one dish that he elevated above most others.
To those that followed his career, the fact that Anthony Bourdain’s favorite sandwich was a sweet and delicious layman’s meal shouldn’t be a surprise. Above all, he was a man of the people. Someone who got as much joy chatting with locals as he strolled the streets of Malaysia as he did speaking with world-renowned chefs in New York City.
What Is The Macau-Style Pork Chop Sandwich?
Macau is a semi-autonomous region in southeast China. The region was settled by the Portuguese back in the 16th-century and, after a tumultuous few centuries, was handed back to China in 1999. With a combination of cultures and a fusion of two drastically different cuisines, it’s no shock that food in Macau has developed some truly unique flavors.
The combination of Chinese and Portuguese cooking styles, along with additional inspiration from Brazil, Goa, and other Portuguese colonies has helped the region become one of the world’s “secret” foodie destinations.
The Macau-style pork chop sandwich recipe uses a juicy pork chop drenched in a zingy chili sauce that combines soy sauce, sesame oil, and garlic cloves, among other ingredients. The sandwich was so popular during the photoshoot for Appetizers that photographer Bobbie Fisher had a hard time using the models because “everyone kept eating them.”
Appetizers was Bourdain’s rant against overrated comfort food. And the Macau pork chop sandwich was his spicy retort to the club sandwich, which he railed against in the book. And it was a dish that he called “possibly the most delicious thing in “Appetites.”
Macau-Style Pork Chop Sandwich Recipe
Macau-Style Pork Chop Sandwich Recipe
Called "Anthony Bourdain's favorite sandwich" from his famed release Appetites: A Cookbook, this Macau-style pork chop sandwich recipe is Bourdain's spicy retort to "overrated" classics like the club sandwich.
This delicious sandwich, which has its heritage in Portuguese-Chinese fusion bathes a pork chop in a spicy sauce made an irresistible combination of chili sauce, soy sauce, sesame oil, and copious amounts of garlic cloves.
Ingredients
- 4 6 oz boneless pork rib chops or cutlet
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 1/4 cup Chinese rice wine
- 1/4 cup black vinegar
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 4 cloves garlic. Peeled and coarsely chopped.
- 1 tbsp five-spice powder
- 1 tbsp dark brown sugar, packed
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups panko bread crumbs
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 2 cups or more peanut oil for frying
- 8 slices white sandwich bread
- Chili paste, for garnish
Instructions
- Using a meat tenderizer, pound the pork till it is reduced to about 1/4-inch in thickness. (If you don't have a meat mallet you can use a heavy-duty rolling pin. But be sure to wrap the meat in plastic before using the rolling pin).
- Add the soy sauce, rice wine, vinegar, sesame oil, garlic, five-spice powder, and dark-brown sugar to a medium-sized mixing bowl. Whisk the ingredients together until the marinade is smooth.
- Place the pork in a resealable bag and carefully add the marinade mixture. Reseal the bag and massage the marinade into the pork chops. Be sure that the meat is entirely coated.
- Allow meat to marinate in the refrigerator for between 1 and 12 hours. Turn occasionally to ensure that the meat is thoroughly covered.
- Remove the pork chops from the marinade and gently brush off the garlic pieces.
- Crack the egg into a shallow bowl and whisk the innards.
- In a second shallow bowl add the flour. Season the flour with salt and pepper.
- In a third shallow bowl add the bread crumbs.
- Heat a heavy-bottom or cast-iron frying pan over medium-high heat. Once hot, add the peanut oil.
- As the oil heats, coat the pork chops in flour, followed by the egg, followed by the bread crumbs. Ensure that the pork chop is thoroughly coated and any extra is allowed to fall off.
- When the oil is hot, carefully add the pork chops to the pan. Work in batches of one or two to avoid overcrowding the pan.
- Cook the pork chops until they are golden brown on both sides (approximately 5-minutes per side. Remove the pork chops and allow them to drain on a sheet pan.
- Season the cooked pork chops with salt to taste.
- Toast the bread to a golden brown.
- Assemble the sandwiches and serve with chili paste.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving:Calories: 303Total Fat: 11gSaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 34mgSodium: 700mgCarbohydrates: 32gFiber: 2gSugar: 2gProtein: 18g
This post may contain compensated links. Find more info on our disclaimer. Flavor the Globe is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.ca. Amazon and the Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.
