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Juicy pork in a frying pan

Juicy Pan-Fried Pork

Juicy, tender pork right in the skillet — quick and easy! This recipe doesn't take long, and honestly it tastes even better than shashlik.

Ropotushka

Recipe author

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Composition / ingredients

Servings:

Pork

800

Onion

Dry spices (unsalted)

Salt

Vegetable oil

Translation table of volumetric measures

Nutrients and energy value of the composition of the recipe

By weight of the composition:

Proteins 37 % 13 g

Fats 60 % 21 g

Carbohydrates 3 % 1 g

249 kcal

GI: 100 / 0 / 0

Cooking method

Cooking time: 50 min

Step 1:

How do you pan-fry juicy pork? Not every cut is right for frying. For tender, juicy results, go with neck, shoulder, leg, or tenderloin. Choose the meat carefully: it should be pink, with no off smell and no excessive sheen. Fresh meat tastes best, but if yours is frozen, thaw it first — 8 hours in the fridge, then 1–2 hours at room temperature. Use any spices that go well with meat.
Step 2:

Rinse the meat and pat it dry with paper towels so it splatters less as it fries and browns more evenly. Trim off any excess fat. Cut the meat into large cubes, no smaller than a matchbox. Try to make the cut across the grain on the largest face — that keeps more juice inside.
Step 3:

Peel, rinse, and slice the onion into half-rings or smaller. Cut this way, it holds its shape and is easy to eat. Add the onion to the meat.
Step 4:

Add the spices and a tablespoon of oil. Don't salt yet — holding off on salt before frying keeps more juice in the meat. Toss everything well so each piece is evenly seasoned, then let it sit at room temperature for 30 minutes.
Step 5:

Heat a skillet with vegetable oil. Keep in mind that if the meat is quite fatty, you'll need less oil than the recipe calls for — sometimes, with fatty meat and the fat left on, you can skip the oil entirely. Set the heat to medium or a bit higher. Since the meat takes longer to cook than the onion, start by laying just the pork in the pan in a single layer. If it doesn't all fit at once, cook it in batches. No need to cover the pan.
Step 6:

Sear on both sides until golden brown — it took me about 4 minutes per side. Salt each side once it's seared. Transfer the finished pieces to a deep dish, cover, and let them "rest" so the meat finishes cooking through.
Step 7:

In the oil left in the pan from the meat, fry the onion. Cook until it's translucent and lightly golden.
Step 8:

Just before serving, stir the meat together with the onion and warm it through.

Serve the hot, juicy fried pork with a vegetable salad or boiled potatoes.
Press the meat with a knife or spatula: if the juices run clear, it's done; if they're pink or red, keep cooking. It's better to press than to pierce, so the juices don't run out and leave the meat dry.
For this recipe, fresh meat beats frozen — otherwise the finished pork risks turning out dry.
Use an oil with a high smoke point for frying. Every oil is only healthy up to a certain temperature — its smoke point — beyond which it starts to burn and forms toxic compounds, including carcinogens. Unrefined oils, with few exceptions, have a low smoke point: they're full of unfiltered organic particles that scorch quickly. Refined oils stand up to heat better and have a higher smoke point. Whenever you're cooking in the oven, in a skillet, or on the grill, make sure you reach for a high-smoke-point oil. The most common ones are refined sunflower, olive, and grapeseed oil.