Okay, so I wanted something fast for dinner the other night, and pork seemed like a good bet. You know, something you can whip up without spending hours in the kitchen. I had some pork loin chops hanging out in the fridge, figured I’d give one of those “quick and easy” ideas a whirl.
Getting Started
First thing, I grabbed those chops. They weren’t super thick, which is good for quick cooking. I decided against just pan-frying them whole, felt like slicing them up would make things even faster. So, I got out my cutting board and a sharp knife. Thin strips, that was the goal. Maybe about a quarter-inch thick? Something like that. Took a few minutes, but easy enough.
Then, seasoning. I kept it really basic.
- Salt
- Black pepper, coarse ground
- A bit of garlic powder (because fresh garlic sometimes burns if you’re not careful when cooking fast)
- A dash of paprika, mostly for color
I just tossed the pork strips in a bowl with this stuff, made sure it was all coated reasonably well. Let it sit for maybe 5 minutes while I prepped other things, which wasn’t much.
Cooking Time
Got my trusty skillet out. A heavy-bottomed one works best, gets good heat. Turned the stove up to medium-high. Added a splash of vegetable oil. Gotta let that pan get hot. You want to hear that sizzle when the pork hits it. If you don’t hear the sizzle, the pan’s not ready, simple as that.
Once the oil was shimmering a bit, in went the pork. I spread it out in a single layer as much as possible. Don’t overcrowd the pan! That’s key. If you put too much in, it just steams instead of searing, and you lose all that nice brown color and flavor. I had to do mine in two small batches.
Let it cook for just a couple of minutes on one side, until it got nicely browned. Then I used my tongs to flip the pieces around, cook the other side. This whole searing part? Maybe 4-5 minutes per batch. Super quick.
After the pork was cooked and I took it out of the pan, I threw in some sliced onions I’d quickly chopped while the pork was resting. Cooked those for a minute or two in the leftover pork drippings and oil. Added a splash of soy sauce right at the end, just to deglaze the pan a little and give the onions some flavor. Scraped up any browned bits from the bottom – that’s where the good stuff is.
The Result
Then, just tossed the cooked pork strips back into the pan with the onions and soy sauce. Stirred it all together for maybe 30 seconds just to combine everything. That was it. Done.
Served it up with some plain rice I had cooking in the rice cooker. Seriously, from starting the slicing to putting it on the plate, it was probably under 20 minutes. Maybe 15 if I was really hustling. It tasted pretty decent, too! Nothing fancy, but flavorful, tender enough, and seriously fast. Definitely qualifies as quick and easy in my book. Sometimes simple is just better, you know?