Strips of pork belly with the skin on, scored, simmered in salted water until it evaporates and then fried in their own rendered fat. Five ingredients and no oil at any point.
It is not the snack in the bag
This page has been called Fried Pork Rinds, and in the United States a pork rind is a specific thing: puffed pig skin, deep-fried until it is light and hollow, sold in bags.
Colombian chicharrón is not that. It is a thick strip of pork belly with the skin on and the meat still attached, and the whole point of it is that one bite gives you three textures: skin that shatters, fat that has gone soft and translucent, and meat underneath.
It turns up on the bandeja paisa, in the cazuela de frijoles, next to arepas at breakfast and on its own with a wedge of lime. Nobody eats it out of a bag.
Water first, then fat
The method looks strange written down and it is the whole technique.
Two cups of water and half a teaspoon of salt go into the pot with the pork over medium heat, uncovered, and the water boils away completely. That takes around half an hour, and while it happens two things are going on: the meat is softening in the moisture, and the fat is rendering out of the belly.
When the water has gone, what is left in the pot is pork sitting in its own melted fat. Turn the heat up and it fries in that. No oil is added at any point in this recipe, and none is needed.
Do not rush the transition. Water and hot fat together spit hard enough to burn, so the pot has to be genuinely dry before the heat goes up.
The cuts are structural
The first step asks for cuts about half an inch apart across the skin, going down to the meat but not through it. This is not for looks.
Skin contracts as it cooks. An uncut strip curls tight into a tube, the inside never reaches the fat, and what you get is crisp on one face and pale and chewy everywhere else.
Cut at intervals, each section curls on its own, and the strip opens out like a fan with every surface exposed. That fanned shape is what chicharrón is supposed to look like, and it is a consequence of the knife rather than of the frying.
Buying it
Ask for pork belly with the skin on, in one thick piece, and say you want it meaty rather than mostly fat.
In Colombian and Latin butchers the word chicharrón will get you exactly the right cut. Elsewhere, skin-on pork belly is the thing to ask for; supermarket belly slices are usually too thin and end up dry.
Two pounds is enough for five people as part of a plate, which is how it is nearly always eaten.
More pork
- Cazuela de frijoles — where it goes.
- Colombian beans — and what goes under it.
- Pork tamales — the other pork.
- Traditional arepas — on the side.
Chicharrón FAQ
No, and the difference matters. American pork rinds are puffed pig skin, deep-fried into a light snack. Colombian chicharrón is a thick strip of pork belly with the meat still attached, so you get crisp skin, soft fat and meat in the same bite.
Pork belly with the skin on, in a thick strip. In Colombia you ask for chicharrón or tocino carnudo; elsewhere ask a butcher for skin-on pork belly and say you want it meaty.
So the strip opens out instead of curling into a tube. Each scored section curls separately and every surface reaches the hot fat, which is what gives the fanned shape and the even crispness.
The water stage softens the meat and renders the fat out of the belly. Once the water has gone that rendered fat becomes the frying medium, which is why no oil goes into the pot at any point.
It is not essential but it helps the skin blister. Alkalinity encourages browning and puffing, which is why it is rubbed on before the pot goes on.
Usually the water stage was cut short, so the fat had not rendered and the skin was still moist when the heat went up. Let the pot go completely dry before turning the heat up.
Wait until the water has gone. Water and hot fat together spit violently, and a pot that still has liquid in it when the fat gets hot throws it across the stove.
📖 Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 pounds meaty pork belly with the skin on (chicharron; not skin alone)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 cups water
Notas
Instructions
- Cut the pork belly into the portions you want, then score the skin side across in cuts about ½ inch apart, going down to the meat but not through it. These are the cuts that let the strip open out as it fries.
- Rub the strips with the baking powder and the baking soda.
- Put them in a pot with the water and the salt over medium heat, uncovered, and let the water boil away completely, which takes around half an hour and is what softens the meat. Once it has gone, and only once it has gone, turn the heat up: the fat the pork has rendered is now the frying medium and no oil goes in at any point. Fry for about 15 minutes, turning, until the skin has blistered and gone golden on all sides.
- Lift them out onto kitchen paper to drain.
- Serve hot, with the usual things: beans, arepa, avocado.
Anna
Looks great! What is the purpose of the baking soda and powder? Can I omit the baking powder?
Mely Martinez
Hello,
The baking soda is to get a crispy texture.
Ken
Do I make the knife cuts on the skin side or the fleshy/fatty side? Or does it matter?
M.
Hello Ken,
On the skin side.