Japanese-style Crispy Pork Chops

I am a huge fan of the Hunger Games books. I can go on and on about why I love them so much. They were crazily irresistible.

But after I finished all 3 books on my Kindle Fire, the Amazon store suggested that I buy this:

Urm, I'm not going to roast some random frog legs and shit in my apartment? And I am not hunting anything, ever?

Seriously people.

(Ok, I know it includes recipes inspired by meals served in The Capitol, but still.)

I don't know about you, but I usually just use something called Google to find recipes. And then I tweak the recipes to my liking.

For example, this was supposed to be a Japanese dish- deep fried pork cutlets. I didn't have bento boxes at home. I didn't have white rice. I didn't have Tonkatsu sauce or the ingredients to make Tonkatsu sauce from scratch. Oh, and I don't ever deep fry anything.

So. Here's what I did instead.

I tenderized the chops (very important step).

Then I prepared my breading station. It is important to make sure that the flour and panko crumbs are seasoned properly.

Here's the best part. I had some barbecue sauce left over from the summer. So into the pot it went!

Fusion at its finest.

Then I fried them on a pan and sliced them at an angle to make them look pretty. I also made some brown rice to go with it. Looks decent, right? So yeah, I totally did not buy the Hunger Games cookbook.

Japanese-style Crispy Pork Chops


4 pieces of boneless pork chops
1/2 cup white all-purpose flour
Pinch of kosher salt and ground black pepper
2 eggs
1 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
1/2 tbsp paprika
1/2 tbsp cayenne pepper (less if you are sensitive to spicy food)
1/2 tbsp garlic powder
1/2 tbsp onion powder
1/2 tbsp Kosher salt
Good dash of ground black pepper
Prepared BBQ sauce
Olive oil

1. Tenderize pork chops with meat pounder.
2. You will need 3 plates to set up the breading station. The first plate should have all purpose flour mixed with kosher salt and black pepper. The second plate should have 2 eggs well beaten. The third plate should have the panko crumbs, paprika, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, kosher salt, and pepper. Mix thoroughly.
3. Lightly season the pork chops with salt and pepper. Take one piece of pork chop, dip into the flour station first, then egg station and then the panko station. Repeat for all the pork chops.
4. Bring a frying pan to medium-high heat with good dash of olive oil. Fry the pork chops for about 4 minutes on each side, checking periodically to make sure the crumbs are not burning. If they are burning, turn down the heat.
Note: if you notice that the crumbs are turning white instead of golden brown, that means there's not enough oil on the pan. Add a little at a time to make sure there's enough oil to brown the chops.
5. In the meantime, add BBQ sauce to a small saucepan on medium heat. Add water if necessary. The key is to achieve a consistency as a dipping sauce. Once it starts bubbling, turn the heat to low to keep warm until ready to serve.
6. When pork chops are cooked through (they should be hard to the pinch instead of being limp and soft), put them on a chopping board and slice at an angle. Serve with BBQ sauce immediately.