Asian Pork and Cabbage Salad

There isn't much that is more quintessentially Iowan than a pork chop.  So why not take something so Midwestern, and take it Asian?

First I marinaded it in rice vinegar, fish sauce, and green onions.

Next comes a delicious salad dressing for the cabbage salad:  vegetable oil, lime juice, soy sauce, brown sugar, fish sauce, ginger ... and some Asian chili paste.  It's awesome, let me tell you. It's like that great chili paste you get at some Thai restaurants, and is made by Sriracha.  

Finely slice up some cabbage, red peppers, and cilantro and toss it in a large bowl with the dressing.

Take the marinaded pork chop and lightly fry it in some vegetable oil in a Dutch oven.  Let it rest a few minutes, and then slice it thinly.

I topped it all off with a little more Sriracha sauce and some "Salad Topper".

This was fantastic.  I have always liked making Asian food -- but usually that involved soy, teriyake, ginger, chilies, lime juice, or soy.  But I never had fish sauce before, or rice vinegar.  And I have no idea why it took me so long!  I am really going to be able to make a lot more recipes now that I previously ignored because I didn't have them.

There is a lot of depth of flavor here. Sweetness from the brown sugar, spicy from the chilies, acidity from the lime juice, and an earthyness from the soy.  The fish sauce brings it all home. I think this was one of the more visually striking, and tasty dishes I have made in a while.