There is a bodega a couple of blocks from where I work that has an amazing hot lunch selection thats a sampling of all the Americas. Everything from pernil, to various south and Central American sausages, Peruvian styled rotisserie chicken, macaroni and cheese and fried chicken and the list goes on and on. With all the good food they have, I still pass most of it up for the most delicious and guilty pleasure on earth... Pork belly Chicharron! I had to try to recreate this at home, so like every other food idea in my life I have spent the entire week obsessing over it, reading about it online, comparing recipes, asking colleagues at work that have made it in their homes, and luck would have it, a local supermarket had boneless, skin on bellies that were a little too thin for nice bacon. It was destiny!
So here's the belly:
The bodega has the rib bones and meat still attached but most of the recipes I found call for boneless.
First step is to slice it into pieces about 1 inch wide to 3 inches long give or take
Next most recipes called for cutting "feet" into them by sliding the knife down every inch or so without going through the skin:
Then, rub the skin and meat side with some baking soda which increases the crispiness and put them on a rack and let them rest in the fridge for a while to dry out. Ideally overnight but at least an hour. I couldn't help myself so an hour it was:
After an hour I put them in a pan with just enough water to cover and a little salt:
So the idea is that they simmer/ boil to tenderize (turning every half hour or so) until all the water is evaporated and the pork belly pieces fry in their own rendered fat. Brilliant!
Well, I was upstairs with my daughter and the water must have just evaporated because I heard fireworks haha.
So the water was gone and they were beginning to fry. Lesson learned... Have a spatter shield on the pan haha.
At this point you turn the heat up to medium and fry on each side for 3-5 minutes until they are crispy and delicious looking or until you are tired of being burned by sizzling lard jumping out of the pan haha.
Take them out and drain on some towels and then chop into bite sized pieces so that you don't eat too many. That didn't work.
Here are some pics of them ready to eat:
I can't even describe how good these are. Worth every cholesterol filled, fatty delicious calorie haha. The crunch of the skin is unlike anything I've ever eaten, combined with the fatty meat, and soft rendered fat. Ok... I have to go on the treadmill for the next six hours haha thanks for looking!!
-Chris
So here's the belly:
The bodega has the rib bones and meat still attached but most of the recipes I found call for boneless.
First step is to slice it into pieces about 1 inch wide to 3 inches long give or take
Next most recipes called for cutting "feet" into them by sliding the knife down every inch or so without going through the skin:
Then, rub the skin and meat side with some baking soda which increases the crispiness and put them on a rack and let them rest in the fridge for a while to dry out. Ideally overnight but at least an hour. I couldn't help myself so an hour it was:
After an hour I put them in a pan with just enough water to cover and a little salt:
So the idea is that they simmer/ boil to tenderize (turning every half hour or so) until all the water is evaporated and the pork belly pieces fry in their own rendered fat. Brilliant!
Well, I was upstairs with my daughter and the water must have just evaporated because I heard fireworks haha.
So the water was gone and they were beginning to fry. Lesson learned... Have a spatter shield on the pan haha.
At this point you turn the heat up to medium and fry on each side for 3-5 minutes until they are crispy and delicious looking or until you are tired of being burned by sizzling lard jumping out of the pan haha.
Take them out and drain on some towels and then chop into bite sized pieces so that you don't eat too many. That didn't work.
Here are some pics of them ready to eat:
I can't even describe how good these are. Worth every cholesterol filled, fatty delicious calorie haha. The crunch of the skin is unlike anything I've ever eaten, combined with the fatty meat, and soft rendered fat. Ok... I have to go on the treadmill for the next six hours haha thanks for looking!!
-Chris