Vietnamese Grilled Lemongrass & Five-Spice Pork Chop Recipe (Sườn Nướng)

Sườn Nướng is Vietnamese sweet and savory grilled pork chops that have been infused with the amazing aroma of lemongrass and five-spice powder. 

You can find these pork chops as the highlight of Cơm Tấm (broken rice), a classic Vietnamese rice dish that typically includes pork chops, pork/egg meatloaf (chả trứng thịt), shredded pork skin (bì) and a fried egg.

Five Spice Powder is a finely ground mixture of five spices: star anise, cloves, fennel, peppercorn, and cinnamon. It’s a very common ingredient in Chinese and Vietnamese cuisine. It’s a flavor that you can’t really pinpoint but you definitely know when it’s missing.

Lemongrass

Don’t go skipping the lemongrass in this recipe. Charred lemongrass aroma is the bombdiggity.

You can use fresh lemongrass, which is readily available in the produce section of many Asian grocery stores. They look like tall dried wheatgrass. For the marinade, use the tender bottom stalks. Make sure to slice them across the grain first then mince finely.

You can also get frozen lemongrass, which usually comes minced and ready-to-use. There’s also dry lemongrass that you can keep in the pantry as an additional option.

If you want tender and juicy pork chops, use thin cuts no more than 1/4” thick. If you can’t find thin cuts, use a meat pounder or any heavy object to flatten the pork chop. Flattened or thin cuts cook thoroughly and quickly so they are less prone to drying out. Flattened and thin cuts also prevent curling when pork chop is cooking.

I also like to use bone-in pork chops. Bone adds moisture and more importantly, a ton of flavor.

Final Touches

Brush scallion oil on the cooked pork chops for a beautiful finish and final basting of amazing flavor.