Hong Kong-Style Baked Pork Chop Rice (焗豬扒飯)

This recipe for Hong Kong-Style Baked Pork Chop Rice features crunchy breaded pork chops on a bed of egg fried rice, layered with a tomato sauce baked with cheese. It's a classic HK cafe offering, and ultimate comforting dish.

What is Hong Kong baked pork chop rice?

Pork chops on rice is a common offering in HK-style cafes/diners, or cha chaan teng.

The rice component is typically fried rice with pork chops that can be breaded, shallow pan-fried or deep-fried.

There are many pork chop rice variations including ones with tomato sauce, cream sauce or curry sauce.

Why you'll love this recipe

This recipe for HK Baked Pork Chops in Tomato Sauce:

Is straightforward: there are 3 main components to the dish: fried rice, pan-fried pork chops and a tomato-vegetable sauce. While there is quite a long list of ingredients, I've broken it down so it's streamlined and easy to follow.

Delicious: cheesy and comforting! Marinating the pork chops adds additional flavor and pan-frying them keeps them moist and tender.

Feeds a family: cost-efficient and typically, you'll find this dish served in individual ramekins. Here, we're using a casserole dish, which is more much accessible.

Ingredients you'll need

Egg fried rice:

• vegetable oil (菜油): you can use any high-smoke point veg oil
• white onion (洋蔥): chopped
• leftover white jasmine rice (茉莉香米): it's best to use day-old rice as it is drier, however, you can use fresh rice that is made with slightly less water than normal to mimic the drier textured rice
• eggs (蛋): beaten

Pork chops:

• pork chops (豬扒): boneless pork chop loin works best, but you can use bone-in if you only have that
• seasonings: salt (鹽), garlic powder (大蒜粉)
• all-purpose flour (麵粉): regular plain flour for dredging the pork
• egg (蛋): beaten; acts as a "glue" for the breadcrumbs
• panko breadcrumbs (麵包屑): Japanese-style breadcrumbs that are coarser in texture; you can use regular breadcrumbs if you like
• vegetable oil (菜油): for shallow-frying the pork chops; again, you can use any high smoke-point oil

Vegetables & tomato sauce:

• white onion (洋蔥): chopped
• garlic (蒜): minced
• red bell pepper (紅甜椒): chopped
• green bell pepper (青椒): chopped
• mushrooms (蘑菇): sliced, optional
• tomatoes (番茄): chopped into smaller pieces
• tomato paste (番茄泥): for concentrated tomato flavor
• ketchup (茄汁)
• soy sauce (醬油): for savory flavor
• Worcestershire sauce (喼汁): adds a little savory and tangy flavor; you can omit if you don't have this on hand
• granulated sugar (砂糖): to balance the acidity
• salt (鹽)
• cornstarch (玉米澱粉): to thicken the tomato sauce
• cold water (冷水): or chicken broth

Cheese:

• shredded mozzarella (芝士): you can also use parmesan cheese as well (or both)

How to make it

Make the egg fried rice

Heat up a wok over high heat.

Add in vegetable oil and chopped onions.

Sauté until the onions are aromatic.

Add in the day-old rice, breaking up any clumps.

Make a well in the center of the rice and pour in the beaten egg.

Wait for about 1 minute before pushing the rice into the egg to coat evenly.

Continue to scramble and toss the egg with the rice, until the rice is completely dry.

Transfer to a dish and set aside.

Prepare the pork chops

Combine pork chops, salt and garlic powder.

Mix well and let it sit for 30 minutes (or place into the fridge to marinate for longer).

In 3 separate shallow dishes, add flour to one dish, beaten eggs to another, and panko breadcrumbs to the last dish.

Take a pork chop and dust with flour on both sides.

Coat the pork chop with egg, and then coat with breadcrumbs.

Repeat with the remainder.

Heat up a frying pan over medium-high heat.

Add in 2-3 tablespoon of vegetable oil.

Place the breaded pork chop into the oil and fry until golden on both sides, working in batches.

Remove the pork chops and place onto a paper towel to drain. Set aside.

Prepare the vegetables/sauce

Wipe down the frying pan with a clean paper towel.

Heat over medium heat and add in vegetable oil.

Add in onion, garlic, red and green bell peppers and sauté until aromatic and just softened, about 2-3 minutes.

Transfer the vegetables to a plate.

In a small bowl, combine tomato paste, ketchup, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, sugar and salt. 

To the frying pan, add in the mushrooms, and continue cooking, until the mushrooms are soft.

Add in chopped tomatoes and the tomato sauce mixture.

Using the same bowl, combine 1 C cold water with 2 tablespoon cornstarch to make a slurry.

Once the tomato and mushroom mixture comes up to a boil, add in the cornstarch slurry and cook until the sauce thickens to a gravy consistency.

Remove from heat.

Assemble:

In an oven-safe casserole dish, add in a layer of egg fried rice.

Place the pan-fried pork chops on top.

Add the vegetables (onions, red/green bell peppers).

Top with the cooked tomato sauce.

Sprinkle shredded mozzarella cheese on the surface.

Bake at 350F for 20-25 minutes, or until the cheese is melted. Optional: broil for a few minutes if the cheese is not brown.

Remove from oven and serve hot.

How to serve

Typically, each serving with have 1 pork chop along with fried rice, tomato sauce and cheese.

Pair the HK Pork Chop Rice with milk tea (香港奶茶), or coffee-tea (yuenyueng) (鴛鴦) to complete that Hong Kong cafe feel.

How to store & reheat

Store any leftover in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Reheat in the oven (using an oven-safe vessel) and bake at 350F for 15-20 minutes, or until warmed through.

Substitutions & variations

Swap out the pork chops for seafood for a baked seafood rice.

Try adding chicken and swap the tomato sauce for coconut in a Macau-style baked Portuguese coconut chicken curry rice.

Other Hong Kong-style recipes you may like