Pandestegte Svinekoteletter med Løg

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy frying pan or cast-iron skillet, 28-30cm
• •Wooden spoon
• •Small whisk for the gravy

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare the chops

   Take the pork chops out of the fridge thirty minutes before you cook them. Cold meat in a hot pan seizes. The muscle contracts and the chop curls up at the edges, cooking unevenly and pushing the center away from the heat. Room temperature meat lies flat and cooks through gently. While they rest, pat each chop dry with kitchen paper and season both sides generously with salt and pepper. Dry surfaces brown. Wet surfaces steam. That's the whole principle.

   If the chops have a thick rim of fat along the edge, score it in two or three places with a sharp knife. This stops them from buckling as the fat tightens in the heat.
2. 2

   Slow-cook the onions

   Melt 20g of butter in a heavy frying pan over medium-low heat. Add the sliced onions and a good pinch of salt. The salt draws moisture from the onions, which helps them soften rather than fry. Stir them through the butter, then let them cook gently for twenty to twenty-five minutes, stirring every few minutes. You're not caramelizing them. You want them soft, golden, and sweet, collapsing into silky tangles that melt against the pork. If they start to catch or darken too quickly, lower the heat and add a splash of water. Patience here is everything. Rushed onions taste sharp. Slow onions taste like themselves, only more so.

   Four onions sounds like too many. It isn't. They shrink to a quarter of their raw volume. Be generous, because the onions are half the dish.
3. 3

   Fry the chops

   When the onions are ready, scoop them out of the pan and set them aside. Don't wash the pan. Everything in the bottom of that pan is flavor. Add the remaining 20g of butter and the tablespoon of oil. Butter alone burns before the chop is done. Oil raises the smoke point and gives you time. When the butter foams and the foam starts to subside, lay the chops in. You should hear a firm, confident sizzle. If you don't, the pan isn't hot enough. Cook for four to five minutes on the first side without touching them. Let the crust form. Flip once and cook for another three to four minutes. The chop is done when the flesh near the bone has gone from pink to pale and the juices that bead on the surface run clear.

   Don't crowd the pan. If all four chops won't fit with a little space between them, fry in two batches. Crowded meat steams instead of browning, and a steamed pork chop is a sad thing.
4. 4

   Rest the meat

   Lift the chops onto a warm plate and cover them loosely. Five minutes of rest. During this time the muscle fibers relax and reabsorb the juices that the heat drove to the center. Cut into a rested chop and the juices stay in the meat. Cut into an unrested one and they pool on the plate. That's flavor you've lost. The pan stays on the heat.

5. 5

   Build the gravy

   With the pan still over medium heat, sprinkle in the flour and stir it into the fat and drippings. Cook for one minute, stirring constantly, until the raw flour smell disappears and the paste turns a shade darker. This is your roux, and it's what gives the gravy its body. Pour in the stock in a steady stream, whisking as you go to prevent lumps. Add the mustard and the dark soy sauce. The soy is there for color and depth, not for saltiness. It gives the gravy that rich mahogany tone that Danish cooks achieve instinctively. Bring everything to a gentle simmer and cook for four to five minutes until the gravy coats the back of a spoon. Taste it. Adjust the salt. Return the softened onions to the pan and stir them through. The gravy should be glossy, savory, and just thick enough to pool on the plate without running everywhere.

   If the gravy is too thick, add stock a tablespoon at a time. If it's too thin, let it simmer a minute longer. You'll know when it's right: it should move slowly when you tilt the pan.
6. 6

   Serve at the table

   Place each chop on a warm plate. Spoon the onion gravy generously over and alongside the meat, letting it pool around the boiled potatoes. Finish with a sprig of thyme if you have it. Bring the pan to the table with whatever gravy remains, because someone will want more. This is food that asks for nothing except a fork, a knife, and the people you want to share it with. Tak for mad.

Chef Tips

• •Buy bone-in chops, not boneless. The bone conducts heat differently and keeps the meat near it juicier. It also gives the gravy better flavor when the drippings hit the pan.
• •Use yellow onions, not red. Yellow onions have the sugar content to go soft and sweet over low heat. Red onions hold their structure and stay too firm for this dish.
• •Good stock is the backbone of the gravy. If yours comes from a cube, dissolve it in less water than the packet says. A concentrated stock gives the gravy the body it needs. A thin stock gives you thin gravy, and no amount of flour can fix that.
• •A cold beer is what the Danes drink alongside this. Pilsner, nothing complicated. The bitterness cuts through the richness of the butter and the sweetness of the onions.

Advance Preparation

• •The onions can be slow-cooked earlier in the day and reheated in the pan before you build the gravy. They improve with a few hours of rest.
• •The gravy can be made an hour ahead and kept warm. Add a splash of stock when reheating if it has thickened too much.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 390g)