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To Fry Pork Chops

Fried pork chops served with apple sauce.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Pork and apple are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,581 recipes. Both carry 4-heptenal, which smells creamy, biscuit. The science ↓

To Fry Pork Chops

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Cut the pork chops rather thin.

  2. Season the pork chops with pepper and salt.

Fry

  1. Heat the lard in a skillet over medium heat.

  2. Fry the pork chops until thoroughly cooked.

  3. For a variation, dip the chops in beaten egg, then coat with breadcrumbs mixed with a little sage and finely chopped onion before frying.

Serve

  1. Serve the pork chops with apple sauce.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Pork + appletop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,581 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).

  2. Pork + peppertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together22,121 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Apple + peppertop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,026 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Pork + saucetop 23% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together4,666 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  5. Sauce + peppertop 27% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together15,303 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

Sauce and pepper barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 15,303 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Pork chops
Provide the main meat, which becomes tender and juicy when cooked through without overcooking.
Lard
Fat for frying, conducting heat and giving the chops a browned, savoury crust.
Apple sauce
Adds sweetness and acidity that contrast with the rich, savoury pork.

The step that matters

Fry the pork chops until thoroughly cooked. Pork must reach a safe internal temperature to be fully cooked. Cutting the chops thin helps heat reach the centre quickly, while frying over medium heat lets the inside cook before the outside burns.

Swap the apple

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pork, sauce, pepper):

  1. Avocadofits better
  2. Limefits better
  3. Lemonfits better
  4. Applethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against pork, sauce, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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.

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