Pandaria is one of my favorite places to hang out in WoW. A lot of people didn’t care for it for a variety of reasons, but I really connected with the brewing, farming, and cooking quests and stories that the region had to offer – particularly in The Valley of the Four Winds. And in case you didn’t notice, Timeless Isle also has a ton of unique food items sold by vendors surrounding the Celestial Court. Peanut Pork Chops is only found on the Timeless Isle and it sounded too good not to make at home!
First you’ll obviously need to make the peanut sauce! My husband loves peanut sauce and I wanted this recipe to be a little more versatile so the base ingredients make a really thick dip-consistency sauce. You might want to thin it out with water before using it on a meat, but it’s perfect for dipping vegetables in its thickets state.
Combine all the ingredients shown above: sugar-free peanut butter, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sambal oelek, grated garlic cloves, and brown sugar.
Next, you’ll prepare and cook your pork chops and sides. Pork chops don’t take terribly long to cook, so make sure you plan accordingly with things that take a little longer like rice.
Add a few generous tablespoons of peanut sauce to a small sauce pan and turn on the heat to medium. Whisk in water until you get the desired consistency and heat through. If you made it too watery you can thicken it again by letting some of the water boil off/evaporate.
For visual reasons I like to use bone-in pork chops but if you’re not a fan of that you can always use boneless.
Cook your pork for 3-5 minutes per side depending on the thickness. If you have an accurate quick-read thermometer it will need to read a minimum of 140ºF in the middle. My general rule is 140º and rising, not barely 140º. I think food safety classes recommend a higher temperature for pork and chicken, but this is safe to eat and not chewy or dry. Pork is sensitive to being overcooked and can be really unpleasant to gnaw through.
Once your pork chops are cooked, let them rest for 2-4 minutes and then plate them, slather them with peanut sauce, and enjoy!
Full Recipe:
Ingredients
4 pork chops (bone-in or boneless)
1/2 cup sugar-free peanut butter, crunchy or smooth
1/4 cup soy sauce
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons sambal oelek (garlic chili paste)
1 tablespoon packed brown sugar
2 garlic cloves, grated
1 lime (optional)
2 green onions for garnish (optional)
Step 1:
Combine all the ingredients except for the pork, lime, and green onions in a bowl to make the peanut sauce. Add a few heaping tablespoons (or more) to a small sauce pan and heat over medium. Cover and store remaining sauce in the fridge. Gradually whisk in water until desired consistency is reached.
Step 2:
Sprinkle pork chops with salt and pepper on both sides. Heat a skillet and add a small amount of vegetable oil (a tablespoon or less is probably enough). Fry the pork chops 3-5 minutes each side until the internal temperature rises above 140ºF using an instant read thermometer. Remove from the heat and allow the pork chops to rest on a plate for 2-4 minutes. Plate with desired sides, top with peanut sauce and green onions, and serve with lemon slices.