Citrusy Habanero-Turmeric Grilled Pork Chops
Citrusy Habanero-Turmeric Grilled Pork Chops
Your newest grill szn go-to punchy sauce. Why not give your chops the ceviche treatment?
The first time I laid eyes on 1 ½-inch thick pork chops I didn’t know what to do with them. We lived in Highland Park for ten years, down the street from Figueroa Street's famed Cookbook Market. The market and the rapid gentrification in Highland Park felt overwhelming, and often alienating as a brown person navigating white spaces.
But then there was Jimmy Juares, my favorite person at Cookbook Market. Jimmy was born and raised in Highland Park. He confirms that the spelling of Juares is indeed a Hall of Records error because if you share a last name with Benito Juárez, Mexico’s only Indigenous president, Juárez is definitely spelled with a z. But hey, they always butcher our names!
Seeing Jimmy skate his way to work was one of my favorite sights in Highland Park. Jimmy was the only employee who would acknowledge, but most importantly, connect with old-school residents that wandered nervously inside the market. Jimmy made me feel like we belonged alongside the new Highland Park transplants, and that we could too buy Weiser Family Farm’s unreal melons.
One day, Jimmy shared a thick pork chop from Marin Sun Farms and I almost wanted to say: “Thank you so much, but I only cook Mexican-style razor-thin chuletas,” but how nice of him to share his chop with a customer? So I took it home and of course, I put it in a classic and glorious pool of spicy salsa verde.
Pork doesn’t make an appearance in my cooking repertoire often, but when it does, I shamelessly give it the ceviche treatment.
Welcome to your newest grill szn go-to punchy sauce that it’s just as good with grilled fish or chicken. It features a teeny tiny habanero to wake you up, grapefruit juice and seasoned rice vinegar for mellow acidity, and ground turmeric for that beautiful vegetal flavor and electric color. The sauce has a silky mouthfeel thanks to the olive oil that emulsifies it. Cook this recipe and shock your friends (in a great way) at your next asada.
Be more like Jimmy Juares!
Lots of 80s pop via Hombres G, Mecano, Flans, and Luis Miguel on this week’s mixtape.
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