Pan seared pork chops with a golden brown crust will have your mouth watering. Take one bite and you're hooked. Only 3 spices used to season. Phenomenal.
Combine the salt, pepper, and sugar in a small bowl and generously sprinkle it evenly over the pork chops. Press down with your hand to make sure the seasoning sticks. Don’t forget to season the fat rim because we’re going to fry the chops standing up at some point.
To prevent the chops from curling upward during frying, cut through the rind of the pork chop by slicing 2 - 3 even spaced shallow cuts. Don’t cut into the meat, just the rim of the fat.
In a frying pan, nonstick or cast iron both work well here, over medium high heat, add oil. Once it starts to ripple, add the chops. Make sure when you add them to the pan you do it gently and lay them away from you. You don’t want the oil splashing you.
Let the chops cook for about 4 minutes. Turn the chops over, they should be golden brown. The sugar caramelizes and helps add color to the chops.
Add the butter to the skillet. As it melts, tilt the pan and spoon the melted fat on top of the chops, helping them cook and keeping them moist. Cook for about 4 minutes. Now we have to stand those chops up and fry that rind of fat. To do this, stand up the chops using the tongs and then slightly tilt the pan. Hold the chops upright where the fat pools and let it fry. Rotate back and forth to get it all cooked. This should take about a minute. Transfer to platter and spoon the butter over chops. Let rest for at least 5 minutes. Serve.