Thai Marinated Pork with Ginger Gastrique
When you think Thai food, you probably think Coconut Milk or Curry. However, this simple marinade incorporates many of the hallmark flavors associated with Thai cuisine and yet is made with a vinegar base and sugar added for balance. My favorite part of this marinade is the combination of cilantro and fresh ginger. These two flavors put together are quite incredible.
When you think Thai food, you probably think Coconut Milk or Curry. However, this simple marinade incorporates many of the hallmark flavors associated with Thai cuisine and yet is made with a vinegar base and sugar added for balance. My favorite part of this marinade is the combination of cilantro and fresh ginger. These two flavors put together are quite incredible.
- Carbohydrate 104.900133125 g
- Cholesterol 137.31 mg
- Fat 18.921443125 g
- Fiber 4.82229991698265 g
- Protein 47.106206875 g
- Saturated Fat 6.00470725 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (623g)
- Sodium 2966.892625 mg
- Sugar 100.077833208017 g
- Trans Fat 2.923230875 g
- Calories 790 calories
Step-by-step
- Combine your vinegar, sugar, cayenne, fish sauce, ginger, and garlic in a saucepan and simmer until the sugar dissolves completely (approx 3 minutes).
- Once the sugar is completely dissolved, remove the marinade from the heat and set aside to cool.
- When cool, add the chopped cilantro.
- Marinate your pork with the Thai marinade but reserve a little extra sauce for later (perhaps 1/4 cup will do).
- Chill both the marinated pork and the reserved sauce for 24 hours.
- Strain the reserved marinade through a chinois or fine mesh strainer to remove the cilantro, garlic, and ginger.
- You want only a smooth mixture of the vinegar, sugar, and spices to come through your strainer.
- We are making a gastrique.
- While the pork is cooking, slowly heat the strained gastrique so as not to burn the sugar.
- When the pork is ready, remove the gastrique from the heat as well.
- Plate your pork and serve your gastrique either on the side or drizzled over your pork.
Cooks often ruin sweet-sour marinades by adding fresh cilantro to boiling liquid, which instantly destroys the bright volatile compounds of the herb and turns the leaves into a drab olive slurry. Dissolving the sugar and vinegar base requires simmering for precisely three minutes, but the liquid must reach room temperature before any green herbs touch the pan. Allowing the pork to absorb these assertive aromatics necessitates a full twenty-four-hour rest in the refrigerator, during which the fish sauce enzymes gently tenderize the muscle fibers without breaking them down entirely.
Straining the reserved liquid through a fine mesh strainer removes all fibrous ginger and garlic particles before reduction, preventing bitter burnt solids from ruining the final gastrique. Reducing the heat carefully during the final reduction phase keeps the high sugar content from scorching into a dark caramel. Because this formulation yields exactly two servings with a high volume of marinade, doubling the pork chops while keeping the liquid ratio steady works well if you have a larger vessel for chilling.
