Mongolian Pork Chops

These are delicious pork chops with an asian marinade containing two special ingredients, hoisin sauce, which is a slightly sweet Chinese bean paste and a black bean paste with chilies which is pretty spicy. I like to serve them with braised red cabbage and mashes potatoes in the winter, but in the summer sugar snap peas go very well. This makes lots of marinade which keeps well refrigerated and can be used for baby back ribs or chicken, especially chicken wings.

• Ready In: 3 hrs 10 mins
• Serves: 6

Ingredients

• 6 -10  ounces  center cut double  pork chops

• Mongolian Marinade

• 1  cup hoisin sauce
• 1  tablespoon sugar
• 1 1⁄2 tablespoons tamari soy sauce
• 1 1⁄2 tablespoons sherry wine vinegar
• 1 1⁄2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 1  green onion, white and two thirds of green parts, minced
• 1  teaspoon Tabasco sauce
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons  lee kum kee black bean chili sauce
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons  peeled and grated fresh ginger
• 1 1⁄2 tablespoons  minced garlic
• 3⁄4 teaspoon fresh ground white pepper

Directions

1. Trim the excess meat and fat away from the ends of the chop bones, leaving them exposed. Put the pork chops in a clean plastic bag and lightly sprinkle with water to prevent the meat from tearing when pounded. Using the smooth side of a meat mallet, pound the meat down to an even 1 inch thickness, being careful not to hit bones. Alternatively, have your butcher cut thinner chops and serve 2 per serving. To make the marinade, combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Coat the pork chops liberally with the marinade and marinate for 3 hours and up to overnight in the refrigerator.
2. Remove from marinade and place the chops on a pre-heated grill. Grill for 5 minutes on each side, rotating them a quarter turn after 2 to 3 minutes on each side, to produce nice crosshatch marks. It's good to baste with some of the marinade as the meat cooks. As with all marinated meats, you want to go longer and slower on the grill versus shorter and hotter, because if the marinated meat is charred, it may turn bitter. The pork is done when it registers 139*F on an instant read thermometer.