Favorite Grilled Pork Chops

September 11. Twenty-two years. I worked the morning shift and we had a moment of silence at eight-forty-six and Pete put his hand on the wall the way he does. Pete was in New York that day — twenty-two and a paramedic in the Bronx, dispatched south to the towers, on duty for thirty-six hours straight, the dust in his lungs that has him on inhalers now at fifty-six. Pete touches the wall once a year on September 11 and we all understand what the touching is. The wall is an altar. The hand is the prayer.

I drove home and made arroz caldo. The Filipino comfort rice porridge. I made a vat. I delivered some to Pete. He answered the door in sweatpants and took the container without saying much and nodded and closed the door. The nodding was the thank you.

Reynaldo would have been sixty-eight now. The math hits me on September dates because September was his good month — the month I have a clear memory of him standing on the front porch in Mountain View grilling salmon in 2007, the autumn light catching his hair. I can see it. The seeing is precious and dangerous — precious because the memory is alive and dangerous because the memory is fragmenting.

I wrote a blog post about him this week. I called it "My Father in September." The post had no recipe attached. I broke the format. The post got more emails than any post in months. People wrote about their dead in September, in October, in May. The dead have months. We did not know this until we started talking about it.

I made grilled salmon for dinner on Thursday. Reynaldo's style — simple, salt, lemon. I ate it on the balcony in the September light. The light was the same light I remembered on the porch in 2007. Reynaldo was both there and not there. I held the fragment.

I do not always make the exact dish the memory calls for—sometimes I make the closest thing I have, and I let the smoke and the heat do the rest of the work. These grilled pork chops are what I reach for when I want to stand outside with a spatula the way Reynaldo stood on that Mountain View porch, when I want the simple ritual of salt and flame and patience. If you have someone you cook toward, someone who is both there and not there, make these. The grill does not ask you to explain yourself.

Prep Time: 10 min | Cook Time: 12 min | Total Time: 22 min (plus 30 min marinating) | Servings: 4

Ingredients

4 bone-in pork chops, about 3/4 inch thick
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Juice of 1 lemon
Fresh parsley, chopped, for garnish (optional)

Instructions

Make the marinade. In a small bowl, whisk together olive oil, garlic, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, smoked paprika, onion powder, black pepper, salt, and lemon juice until combined.
Marinate the chops. Place pork chops in a zip-top bag or shallow dish. Pour marinade over the chops, turning to coat evenly. Seal and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, or up to 4 hours for deeper flavor.
Preheat the grill. Heat an outdoor grill or grill pan to medium-high heat (about 400°F). Oil the grates lightly to prevent sticking.
Grill the chops. Remove pork chops from marinade and let excess drip off. Grill for 5–6 minutes per side, or until an instant-read thermometer inserted at the thickest part reads 145°F. Avoid pressing down on the chops while cooking.
Rest and serve. Transfer chops to a plate and tent loosely with foil. Let rest for 5 minutes before serving. Garnish with fresh parsley if desired.

Nutrition (per serving)

Favorite Grilled Pork Chops — For the Porch, for the Light, for the People Who Grilled Before Us