On a visit to the casual patio of our favored fine-dining restaurant, we eavesdropped on a conversation between the chef and a patron. The chef extolled the virtues of his fried chicken. He vowed that it would be the juiciest fried chicken ever tasted by this patron. To our delight, the chef revealed his culinary secret: he first cooked the chicken sous vide, then he fried it to create the crispy, crunchy crust.

Sous vide is a cooking method. You vacuum seal food in plastic bags, which you immerse in a temperature-controlled water bath. You set the bath for the exact temperature that you want the food to reach. The food cooks over several hours. It cooks precisely and evenly. And, the bag locks in the food’s natural juices.

We have been cooking sous vide since December 2014 when we got a SousVide Supreme.

The meat exits the water bath rather limp. So, we usually give it a hard sear for texture. We’ve done other things too, like this Smoked Brisket Sous Vide. Fried? That dog would hunt, but we endeavor not to fry food at home for our heart’s sake. Instead, we incorporated our faux fried technique to make these breaded pork chops sous vide.

This combination paired nicely because cooking sous vide leaves the meat tender and succulent but does not render the fat within the pork chop due to the lower temperature. However, the brief oven time at the higher temperature not only develops the crust but also renders the fat.

The true star, or at least the unanticipated one, was the tangy mushroom sauce. With the pork chop cooking sous vide, we had plenty of time to let the sauce simmer and build layers of flavor. If you would prefer sauce without a tang, remove the red white vinegar and Worcestershire sauce.

Breaded Pork Chops Sous Vide

Ingredients

• Salt, to taste
• Pepper, to taste
• Four pork chops, 1 to 1 1/2 inches thick
• One cup of flour
• Two eggs, beaten
• Two cups of panko

Directions

Season pork chops with salt and pepper, then vacuum seal. Cook at 134 degrees for two to three hours. Remove pork chops. Pat dry. Individually, dunk each pork each in flour, then egg, then panko.

Preheat oven to 450°F. Use a roasting pan with a rack. Arrange pork chops on the rack. Spritz tops and sides with olive oil. Place pan in oven for a couple of minutes until tops turn golden brown. Remove pan. Flip pork chops. Spritz tops and sides with olive oil. Return to oven. Again, cook until tops become golden brown. Remember: the pork chop is already cooked. This exercise is all about developing the crispy, crunchy crust.

Tangy Mushroom Sauce

Ingredients

• One tablespoon of olive oil
• One yellow onion, diced
• Two celery stalks, finely chopped
• Four garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 16-ounce of baby bella mushrooms, sliced
• One cup of chicken stock
• Two tablespoons of red white vinegar
• One tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce
• One 10.5-ounce can of cream of mushroom soup

Directions

In a large pan or cast-iron Dutch oven, heat olive oil. Sauté onion, celery and garlic. When onion becomes translucent, mix in mushrooms. Cook for ten minutes, stirring frequently. Pour in chicken stock, red white vinegar and Worcestershire sauce. Place on lid, reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes. Pour in cream of mushroom soup, and simmer until sauce reaches desired consistency—about 30 minutes.