I love a good manager’s special, so when I noticed these sirloin chops, in the case at what I thought was a fair price, but then marked down another $2 (!) – I really had no choice but to pick up a pack or three.
In truth, the sirloin cut tends to be bony, but I think that bones add flavor, and these guys still had more than enough meat on them to provide us with the main course for two dinners – or four diners, if you’d like to look at it that way.
I do love my grilled chops, but was fresh out of cider to make a brine. I wasn’t really in the mood for the buttermilk or Kentucky Colonel marinades either, so went searching for options.
At this point, we go ‘All praise da Google’ – you know the drill.
The late, lamented Gourmet Magazine, courtesy of epicurious.com, provided me with the basics for this marinade (it didn’t hurt that we had a lot of beer leftover from last weekend, and we’re not beer drinkers), 
which I had to modify a bit to fit what we had on hand. I’m thinking that since Rich volunteered that we could have the leftovers for dinner tomorrow night, it was a success.
INGREDIENTS
•Pork Chops
Marinade:
•2/3 cup beer
•1/4 cup cider vinegar
•1/3 cup sugar
•1/4 cup Chinese cooking wine – the original recipe called for Mirin, which we were fresh out of, but I thought the Chinese version made a decent substitute
•2/3 cup soy sauce (I use low sodium)
•2 tsp ground ginger
•1/4 tsp cayenne
Combine in a sauce pan and bring to a boil.
Simmer for about 20 minutes, until the mixture is thickened and reduced to a bit over one cup or so (I eyeballed it).
Let the mixture cool, then pour over your choice of chops in a large, shallow pan – you’ll want them to lay flat. Cover and marinade in the fridge overnight (best) or for a few hours (what I did), turning the chops every now and then. Take the container out of the fridge and bring the chops up to room temp before grilling.
These were thin chops, but our indoor grill is kind of slow, so I cooked these for about four minutes per side – adjust your own cooking times accordingly.
Tasty. And now that I have this basic (and simple) recipe, I’m thinking I can dispense with buying pre-made teriyaki sauces/marinades – it would be a snap to add my own pineapple juice (from the pineapple slices) and adapt this mix for Banzai Burgers, why add another bottle or can to the jumble in the pantry?
Just a thought…