Air Fryer Chinese Salt and Pepper Pork Chops

Air Fryer Chinese Salt and Pepper Pork Chops are an authentic restaurant quality dish, but at a fraction of calories from deep fried.

One of our favorite dishes at our local Chinese restaurant is called Salt & Pepper Pork Chops. Deep fried, in all their glory and a zillion calories. Yummy!  We order it every time we go out to eat Chinese Food. Well, we USED to order it…..now, I make it myself!

When I first called our local restaurant(s) to place an order (we keep trying new places), I asked for an authentic recommendation. Salt & Pepper Pork Chops, I was told. Hmmm, what is it I asked. Two pork chops fried with salt and pepper.

Well, okay, two of ’em??? For that price? How many people does it feed. A few. Two chops? Just two? Okay, I took the chance. The Styrofoam container was full to the brim. How can that only be two pork chops I wondered? I thought I heard wrong.

 

We LOVED the dish. The Jalapeño Peppers were not even spicy. Wowza.

Next time I called another restaurant to place a Chinese Food order and again, I asked, what is your best authentic Chinese dish. Salt & Pepper Pork Chops. How big is the order? Two chops. Okay, you know the rest. See that bowl above?

That is two bone in pork chops, that were cut into cutlets, sort of. Most of the meat is cut from the bone, but some meat remains on the bones. Yum!

They puff up and two chops, really does make quite a bit. We liked them so much in fact, I made an Air Fryer Chinese Salt & Pepper Chicken Wings version. OMG, y’all, the Wings are soooooo good.

I mean really good. These Air Fryer Chinese Salt and Pepper Pork Chops are as good as from your favorite Chinese Restaurant.

 

Crack open an egg and add the white part to a bowl. If you have a cat or dog, add the raw egg yolk to their food. 😉

Well, only if you want. I do sometimes, but then again, I feed a completely raw diet.

Anyway, add in the salt and pepper and Whisk the heck out of it, until the egg white is very frothy.

Another delicious pork recipe to try is my Low Carb Breaded Pork Chops in the Air Fryer.

 

Place the pieces of pork, including the bones (which should have some good meat on them) into the bowl with the Egg Whites.

Allow the pork to marinate for about half an hour in the Egg White Mixture. You probably want to put the pork into the refrigerator during this time. 🙂

 

You can take this time to slice up the Jalapeños and the Scallions.

I don’t like a lot of heat, so I remove most of the seeds by running water over the Jalapeño slices.

The seeds are where the heat live.

The taste of seedless Jalapeño after stir frying is very mild and quite delicious.

 

Here is another tip. I am really big at shopping the sales. I also like to be able to pull something out of my freezer and have all the ingredients.

So, I bought extra Pork Chops and Jalapeños (we grow our own Scallions), sliced them all up and used my Foodsaver. Into the freezer for another meal, ready to cook.

 

Before using your Air Fryer to make, well, pretty much anything, make sure you read my short article on how to Properly Prepare the Air Fryer for use.

This method will considerably cut down on sticking issues. Make sure never to use Pam when you season your Air Fryer Basket.

It will leave behind a coating, that is impossible to remove. Coconut Oil, Crisco, Canola Oil, all work well.

 

Transfer the pieces of Pork from the bowl with the Egg White mixture to a large mixing bowl.

Pour in the Potato Starch and make sure the Pork is coated very well.

 

Use Silicone Tongs, not your fingers to handle the pieces of Pork. You want to make sure that the Potato Starch does not gunk up and get sticky.

You also don’t want to scratch your Air Fryer. If your Tongs get gunked up, make sure to wash the gunk off and dry them well before continuing.

 

Shake off any excess Potato Starch and carefully place the pieces of Pork into your prepared and seasoned Air Fryer Basket. You can see that my basket is glistening from the light coat of oil. This will help prevent the coating from getting stuck to the Air Fryer Basket. I grease up the sides too.

When “Air Frying,” I don’t usually use a lot of oil or have a heavy hand when I use my Oil Mister to spray the food. In recipes like my Air Fryer Crispy Honey Garlic Chicken Wings recipe, I don’t spray the Chicken at all. The skin from the chicken is enough to make chicken taste “fried.”

The quotes are because this is not a real fryer and food will never taste like deep fat fried food (darn it right?), but, it will be very close and in my opinion, just as good.

 

The name Air Fryer, I think, leads to some people believing that you don’t actually use any oil. That is incorrect. Oil is used quite often.

But, the amount is usually very minimal. Giving these Air Fryer Chinese Salt and Pepper Pork Chops a heavy handed spray with an Oil Mister, probably only uses a few drops of oil.

Plus, I really want this recipe to taste authentic and deep fried. It will!

For this recipe, I like to use Avocado Oil, but Peanut Oil or Canola Oil will work well too.

Because the Air Fryer uses so little Oil, I do opt for the expensive good oils, as they will last quite a while. My Oil Mister of preference is the Glass.

It is a bit pricey, but it works really well. I am a strong believer that cheap stuff costs more in the long run, as things always need to be replaced over and over again.

Place the Air Fryer Drawer and Basket into the Air Fryer and make sure to give them a good shake by using a back and forth motion throughout the cooking process.

Shaking the Air Fryer Chinese Salt & Pepper Chicken Wings often will also help to prevent sticking.

 

After the initial cook, we will turn up the heat and cook for just a few more minutes.

While the Pork is getting the final cook, it is time to Stir Fry the topping.

How about some Air Fryer Pub Style Corned Beef Egg Rolls?

 

This will go fast, so, before you turn up the temperature on your Air Fryer, preheat your Wok or Cast Iron Chicken Fryer. You want it screaming hot.

Add a couple Tablespoons of Canola or Peanut Oil, the prepared Jalapeños and Scallions and some more salt and pepper. Using a Spatula, Stir Fry the veggies for about a minute.

When the Air Fryer beeps, carefully remove the hot Pork Chops and place them in the Wok or Cast Iron Chicken Fryer and coat with the hot Jalapeños and Scallions.

Most of the oil will absorb into the Jalapeños and Scallions, so your Air Fryer Chinese Salt and Pepper Pork Chops will not be greasy, but the taste of the Jalapeños and Scallions will transfer to the Pork Chops.

 

I guarantee these will taste just like the ones you get at your favorite Chinese restaurant, only better.

More Asian Chinese Air Fryer Recipes to Make:

• Dim Sum Air Fryer Chinese Shrimp Toast
• Air Fryer Chinese Take Out Sweet ‘N Sour Pork
• Air Fryer Spicy Bang Bang Chicken Wings

Have fun cooking!

Kitchen Equipment and Essentials

• Ultrean 8.5 Quart Air Fryer
• J.A. Henckels Classic 7-inch Hollow Edge Santoku Knife
• Amco Advanced Performance 18/10 Stainless Steel Measuring Spoons
• Simply Gourmet (Dry) Stainless Steel Measuring Cups
• My FANTASTIC Teak Cutting & Charcuterie Board & Compartments
• Rösle Stainless Steel Flat Whisk
• Cilio Olivewood Spatula
• Porcelain & Bamboo Salt Box with Spoon
• Corelle Mixing/Serving Bowls
• Potato Starch
• Silicone Tongs
• Glass Oil Mister
• Cast Iron Chicken Fryer

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