Recipe & Pairing | Rosheen Kaul's Wood-Grilled Pork Chop, Sorrel, Roast Sesame And Mustard Sauce

Featuring 80 all-new recipes from the city’s leading restaurants & chefs, The Broadsheet Melbourne Cookbook: The New Classics is a gourmand’s absolute dream.

Rosheen Kaul’s super wood-grilled pork chop, sorrel, roast sesame and mustard sauce sent us into raptures - succulent, slightly charred and so so good. Here’s the recipe, along with our foolproof pairing tip.

Pairing tip: “Pork for me is all about white wine pairings, and I’m a huge, huge fan of a clean, mineral acid driven riesling or albariño with most dishes. Here though that woodsmoke in the dish has got me reaching for a white that’s seen a bit of light oak work to compliment that char - that could be a riesling or a pinot gris from somewhere like Alsace, or gorgeous chenin blanc from either South Africa or France. And look, when can you ever go wrong with a Margaret River chardonnay? Absolutely cracking. " - Nick

Pair this with...

Rosheen Kaul's Wood-Grilled Pork Chop, Sorrel, Roast Sesame And Mustard Sauce

"What’s more delicious than a gorgeous cut of pork, gently brined and grilled over the embers to a deep, charry crust and sliced to expose a silky, juicy centre? Coupled with a sharp mustard sauce, lots of lovely bright sorrel leaves and rich, nutty sesame oil – honestly, yum. The way the meat picks up the luscious wood smoke as it renders, the edges all charry but the flesh still so tender, is sensational.

This dish reminds me of some great nights eating Korean barbeque, of charred pork belly dragged through fragrant, toasty sesame oil with just a little salt and a lot of soju. Bloody delicious.

Use the best quality pork you can afford, and look for lots of intramuscular fat and marbling; a good butcher should always be able to help you out in this respect. Fire up the barbeque for this if you want a similar effect to how we cook this dish at the restaurant, although a cast-iron frying pan will work just fine. Just make sure everything is screaming hot to get that sear. Nobody wants a sweaty pork chop."

– Rosheen Kaul

Ingredients

Serves 2-3

• 350g high-welfare, bone-in pork chop, rind removed but fat kept on

• Olive oil, for drizzling

• Salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

• High-quality toasted sesame oil, to serve

• Sorrel and shiso leaves, thinly sliced, to serve

Brine

• 20g brown sugar

• 20g salt

• 3 tsp soy sauce

• 1/2 tsp Sichuan peppercorns, roasted until fragrant, lightly crushed

• 2 tsp Shaoxing wine

Mustard Sauce

• 2 tsp mustard oil

• 3 tsp plain flour

• 100ml chicken or vegetable stock

• 3 tbsp full-cream milk

• 125ml (1/2 cup) Manzanilla sherry

• 1 tsp pickle liquid, strained from a jar of pickled chillies

• Salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

• 2 tsp seeded mustard

• 11/2 tbsp capers, chopped
  

Method

This recipe must be started 1 day ahead of serving.

For the brine, combine all ingredients in a saucepan with 300ml water. Bring to a simmer, swirling to dissolve the sugar and salt. Cool, then refrigerate until chilled. Submerge the pork chop and refrigerate for 1.5 hours to brine.

Remove the pork from the brine, drain, then thoroughly pat dry. Place on a wire rack in the fridge for at least 4 hours, or overnight if possible, to dry out.

The next day, for the mustard sauce, heat the mustard oil in a small saucepan until smoking, turn off the heat and allow it to cool.

Mustard oil needs to be heated until smoking point first and then cooled to reduce its pungency.

Heat the mustard oil again until shimmering, then add the flour. Cook, stirring constantly until the roux turns brown, then whisking constantly, gradually add the stock and milk and bring to a simmer.

Add the sherry and pickle liquid and cook, stirring constantly, until thickened, about
3–4 minutes. Season to taste.

When tasting, you are also checking that the “floury” taste has been cooked out completely.
If not, cook it a little longer.

Stir in the seeded mustard and capers to finish, and keep sauce warm until ready to serve.

Bring the chop to room temperature before cooking, then when you’re ready to cook, fire up a barbeque or grill; if using wood or charcoal ensure it burns down to white-hot embers before cooking. If you are using a cast-iron pan, heat it until smoking hot.

Rub a small amount of oil and salt on the pork chop, then press it flat onto the grill or pan.

Hold the pork chop flat with a small pan or metal tray to stop it from curling up, and to get a
really nice even sear.

Once the pork is deep golden on one side, briefly sear the other side and the cap until golden. You’re looking for an internal temperature of 56–60°C for medium–rare to medium; any further than 72°C and you’re eating sawdust.

You can also place the pork chop in a 200.C oven for 2–3 minutes to help it along the way.

Remove the pork from the pan and rest for at least half the cooking time. Meanwhile, reheat the sauce, stirring in a few drops of sesame oil. Pour the sauce onto a plate, carve the pork chop and arrange it over the sauce. Brush the pork chop with more sesame oil, sprinkling with salt flakes and a little pepper and finish with the fresh sorrel and shiso leaves.

Recipe & images taken from The Broadsheet Melbourne Cookbook: The New Classics, available now.