Hong Kong-Style Curry Pork Chop With Rice

This recipe for Curry Pork Chop with Rice features crispy, breaded deep-fried pork chops served with a rich Hong Kong-style curry and steamed rice.

What is curry?

Curry typically refers to a dish originating from India and South Asia, characterized by a unique mixture of spices such as turmeric, cumin, coriander, fenugreek, curry leaves, and chili.

The mixing of spices is the foundation for many Indian dishes and is known as masala (used to flavor anything from chai (tea) to chana (chickpeas).

The most accessible way to achieve this flavorful spice blend is by using curry powder, readily available in the international/ethnic aisle of major grocery stores and Asian supermarkets.

There are many regional variations of curry, reflecting the diverse culinary influences across different areas and cultural traditions.

What is the difference between Japanese curry and Hong Kong curry?

Hong Kong/Cantonese Chinese-style curries typically use Madras curry powder, which is a little more spicy than regular curry powder, yet it has an overall milder flavor, as it is tempered down with coconut milk.

Japanese-style curry uses curry roux cubes, which are generally made with flour, spices, and thinned out with water or stock (rather than coconut milk) to create a semi-opaque sauce.

While both types of curries can have varying levels of spice/heat, Japanese and Hong Kong curries are generally more milder than Indian curries, with Japanese curry being the mildest/sweetest.

What is the difference between Southeast Asian curry and Hong Kong/Cantonese curry?

Malaysian/Southeast Asian curries are typically built on a spice paste blended with coconut milk, forming the foundational element in Malaysian chicken curry, beef rendang, and laksa noodle soup.

Influenced from Malaysian curry, Hong Kong-style curry also contains coconut milk.

Adding coconut milk to the curry tempers the spices, resulting in a milder and sweeter flavor that became was more appealing to the Cantonese palate.

Amid the many Hong Kong-style curry dishes, which encompass variations like beef brisket curry to fish ball curry, this modified flavor profile has found widespread appreciation.

Why you'll love this recipe

This recipe for Hong Kong-Style Curry Pork Chop is made in a similar way as Japanese-style pork tonkatsu.

Simple to make: the pork is simply seasoned with salt, breaded and deep-fried until crisp.

Crispy: using a double-dredge method of eggs and panko breadcrumbs ensures the pork is crispy and crunchy.

Delicious: the crunchy and juicy pork is matched with a rich and luxurious, creamy coconut curry sauce and steamed rice.

Ingredients you'll need

Curry sauce:

• coconut milk: use canned, quality full-fat coconut milk for a richer flavor
• water
• curry powder: use Madras-style curry powder, or a Chinese curry powder that you enjoy (typically, Chinese curry powder has the addition of star anise and cinnamon)
• sea salt: for flavor
• turmeric powder: adds a vibrant yellow hue to the curry sauce
• potato: cut into large chunks; choose a firm, waxy-style potato that holds up to cooking

For dredging:

• egg: beaten; acts as a binder
• all-purpose flour: regular plain flour
• panko bread crumbs: are Japanese-style breadcrumbs that are thicker and coarser than regular breadcrumbs

Pork chops:

• pork chops: lightly pounded; you can use also use pork belly chops

You can find these ingredients at Asian supermarkets or grocery stores. 

How to make it

Make the curry sauce:

In a small saucepan, combine coconut milk, water, curry powder, salt, and turmeric powder.

Stir and bring to a simmer over medium heat.

In the meantime, place the potato into a bowl and add a splash of water.

Cover with a lid and microwave on high power of for 3-5 minutes, until mostly cooked through.

Once the curry sauce is simmering, add in the chunks of potato, stir to combine, cover with a lid and reduce the heat to low, keeping it warm until ready to serve.

Dredge:

Have 3 shallow dishes ready.

Add beaten egg to one dish, all-purpose flour to another dish, and breadcrumbs into the final dish.

Take a pork chop and dredge into the egg, then coat with the flour, and back into the egg a second time, before ending with the breadcrumbs.

Repeat with the remainder.

Fry:

Heat the frying oil in a large skillet or frying pan until the oil reaches 350F.

Add in the breaded pork and fry for 2-3 minutes per side, flipping halfway through, until golden brown and crisp.

Remove with a pair of tongs and place onto paper towel to drain.

Repeat with the remainder.

How to serve

Serve the fried pork chops with fried rice or steamed jasmine rice and curry sauce (with a chunk of potato).

You can serve the curry sauce in a separate bowl, to keep the pork from becoming soggy.

Pair it with blanched yu choy, or other side dishes such as crispy tofu, steamed egg, salt and pepper pork, or sweet and sour pork.

For drinks, try it with yuenyueng coffee tea, milo, or milk tea bubble tea.

How to store & reheat

Keep the fried pork chop separately from the curry.

Store each element in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.

To reheat, bake the fried pork chop in a 350F oven for 10-15 minutes, until warmed through and crisp.

Reheat the curry over the stovetop on medium heat, until hot. Add additional water to the curry sauce if it is too thick.

Variations

Instead of pork chops, use you can pair the curry sauce with beef brisket, chicken thighs (to make a Macanese-style curry) fried chicken, regular beef, fried fish, mixed vegetables, or tofu.

Expert tips

If you prefer the curry sauce to be thinner, add a little more water. 

Choose a curry powder that you like. Each brand of curry powder will vary in taste, aroma and flavor. 

Other HK-style recipes you may like

Be sure to check out these recipes:

Hong Kong-Style Curry Beef Brisket (Instant Pot)

Easy Curry Fish Balls

Hong Kong-Style Macaroni Soup

Hong Kong-Style Mango Cream Pancakes

Let me know if you try out this recipe -- tag me on Instagram @siftandsimmer or leave me a comment/rating below!