Mark Jensen

Chef Mark Jensen, of Sydney restaurants Pork’d and Red Lantern on Riley, shares a favourite beer and food match.

The air is crisp but the sun still shines even though thetemperature is falling rapidly. There is still ample opportunity togather the troops around the BBQ before the sun sets.

I tried theWillie the Boatman ‘Albo’ Corn Ale again recently and I feel it complements this pork chop recipe perfectly. The Albo has afragrant hops driven fruity nose and a nice amount of bitterness.

The bitterness especially, counter balances the sweetness of thesugar and honey in the pork recipe. The beer finishes dry on thepalette and sets you up for the next bite of this spectacular porkdish. Enjoy.

Willie the Boatman Albo Corn Ale

Suong nuong (Vietnamese grilled pork chops)

Ingredients
2kg pork chops sliced thin at the butchers
125 mls fish sauce
150 mls oyster sauce
50 mls honey
2 tb white sugar
2 tb lemongrass minced finely
½ Bunch shallots white part only, minced finely
2 cloves garlic minced finely
80 mls veggie oil

Method
Place the pork chops between two sheets of plastic on a choppingboard and bash them gently with a meat mallet until half theiroriginal thickness. Place the rest of the ingredients in a largemixing bowl and mix well. Add the pork chops, mix and coat themwell with the marinade. Leave the pork to marinate in the fridge forat least 4 hours, but the longer the better.

Remove the pork chops from the fridge and bring to roomtemperature. Meanwhile light the BBQ and fire it up to a medium/high heat. Grill the chops for approximately 3 minutes each side,rest for 5 minutes, then serve with a salad and some jasmine rice.

Suong nuong: Vietnamese grilled pork chops

Click here to read our interview with Mark about Pork’d, located at 545 Crown Street, Surry Hills. Look out for monthly recipes from Mark Jensen on Australian Brews News.