Chicharrón Colombiano
Strips of pork belly with the skin on, scored, simmered in salted water until it evaporates, then fried in their own rendered fat until the skin blisters. Fifty minutes and no oil at any point.
Servings: 5
Calories: 240kcal
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
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.
Notes
Nothing is added to the pot but water and salt. The pork renders its own fat during the first stage and fries in it during the second, which is why the water has to go completely before the heat goes up: water and hot fat together spit violently.
The scoring is not decoration. Cutting the skin at intervals lets each section curl separately, so the strip opens like a fan and every surface gets to the fat. A strip left uncut curls into a tube and the inside never crisps.
Colombian chicharron is pork belly with the meat still attached, not the puffed skin-only snack sold as pork rinds in the United States. They are different things and they are made differently.
Nutrition
Calories: 240kcal | Carbohydrates: 1g | Protein: 34g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 109mg | Sodium: 495mg | Potassium: 615mg | Fiber: 1g | Calcium: 75mg | Iron: 2mg