Why it works: Pork and rice match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and 2,025 recipes mention both. Both carry (e,e)-2,4-decadienal, which smells fatty, deep fried. The science ↓
The recipe
Ingredients
Contains: milk, tree nuts (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
Cook the chops
Season chops with 1/2 teaspoon salt, pepper and nutmeg.
Cook chops in 1 tablespoon butter in 10-inch skillet, 4 to 5 minutes on each side.
Add 2 tablespoons water; cover and cook 10 minutes.
Combine pear preserves and almonds with 2 tablespoons water. Stir into pan juices, spoon over chops to glaze.
Cook the ginger rice
Meanwhile, in 2-quart saucepan combine rice, water, ginger, curry powder, remaining 1 teaspoon salt and remaining 1 tablespoon butter.
Bring to a boil. Stir once or twice.
Reduce heat, cover, and simmer 15 minutes (20 to 25 minutes for parboiled rice) or until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed.
Serve
Serve chops and glaze over beds of hot ginger rice.
Garnish with almonds, candied fruit, and additional pear preserves, if desired.
This recipe comes from the Recipes Wiki on Fandom and is licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Our formatting and summaries are shared under the same licence.
Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
-
Pork + ricetop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together2,025 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
-
Nutmeg + gingertop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together3,324 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
-
Pepper + nutmegtop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together13,015 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
Almond + ricetop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together1,437 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-methylbutanol (malty, whiskey).
-
Pear + gingertop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together440 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Pork chops
- Searing and gentle covered cooking keep the meat tender and juicy while it cooks through.
- Pear preserves
- Sugars brown and caramelize in the pan, giving the glaze sweetness and a sticky finish.
- Butter
- Adds fat for browning the chops and rich flavor to the pan juices and rice.
- Rice
- Absorbs the cooking liquid and becomes tender, forming the starchy base under the chops.
- Sliced almonds
- Toasting adds nutty aroma and a crunchy texture to the glaze.
The step that matters
Cook the chops covered after searing. Adding water and covering the pan steams the chops so they cook through without drying out. The pan juices then mix with the preserves to form the glaze, so the liquid should be stirred in before it evaporates away.
Flavor stand-ins for the pear
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pork, pepper, nutmeg, butter, almond, rice, ginger):
- Coconutbetter flavor fit
- Lemonbetter flavor fit
- Cherrybetter flavor fit
- Pearthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against pork, pepper, nutmeg, butter, almond, rice, ginger. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
You might also like
Illustration
Illustration
Illustration
IllustrationThe Sunday pairing: one pairing, the chemistry behind it, and how to cook it. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account for sign-in; Pro adds the full results and chemistry.