Salty, savory, and crunchy – those three words sum up my Smoked and Fried Chicharron succinctly. If you’ve never heard of Chicharron, it’s made from pork belly, essentially a kissing cousin to bacon. As the name implies, pork belly comes from the pig’s belly. It is fatty (which brings flavor)  and boneless. 

You can get pork belly at the grocery store, but a butcher will be able to cut one to your size. A whole one is a whopping 12 pounds. So unless you’re having a large game-day gathering, you’ll probably want a smaller cut.

For this recipe, I suggest using Apple wood for smoking.

Smoked and Fried Chicharron Ingredients

• 3 lbs pork belly (feeds about 5 people)
• Cuso’s Lemon Pepper Seasoning
• 4 medium avocados, ripe
• 1/2 small red onion, finely diced
• 2 Firm tomatoes, diced (Roma is a good choice)
• 2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped fine
• 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely diced (or serranos for more heat) 
• 1 lime, juiced
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 cup Sour cream (binder)
• Peanut oil

Smoked and Fried Chicharron Instructions

1. Heat your smoker to 275F
2. Score the pork belly on both sides using a  Chef’s Knife
3. Sprinkle with Cuso’s Lemon Pepper Seasoning evenly all over
4. Smoke the pork belly for 2 hours or until the internal temperature reaches 180F
5. While the meat smokes, you can assemble your guacamole 
6. Slice the avocados in half and remove all the flesh into a mixing bowl
7. Mash the avocado flesh using a fork
8. Chop the red onions, tomatoes, cilantro, and pepper. Add to the mixing bowl.
9. Stir in the juice of 1 lime, sea salt, and sour cream. Stir and chill until service.
10. When the pork belly comes off the grill, it’s time to deep fry it.
11. Heat your deep frier to 350F

PitMaster’s Memo: Guacamole – the Way Back Machine

There is some discussion about exactly when Guacamole came into human diets. A good possibility is that the Aztecs started it in the 1500s. At this time, they made a green, saucy spread with much the same ingredients as modern Guacamole.

The Aztecs named the mixture ahuaca-mulli which roughly translates as “avocado mixture.” We also could derive the name from the Nahuatl language of Central Mexico, huaka’mole. In either case, Aztecs valued guacamole, thinking it was an aphrodisiac promoting love and fertility.

Sides

Baby carrots in honey butter

Grape tomato salad

Parmesan cauliflower bites

Smoked deviled eggs 

Stuffed mushrooms

From the Bar

Amber Ale

Green tea

Indian Pale Ale

Margarita (of course)

Reisling

Sauvignon Blanc