Chicharrón Casera

Name: Chicharrón Casera
Ingredients: 1½ to 2 pounds pork skin; 2 cups canola oil; Salt; Salsa of choice or guacamole, optional

By Lesley Téllez

July 1, 2017

Chicharrones being served on a platter with guacamole lime and beer.

Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Susan Ottaviano

Large jagged sheets of chicharrón, or pork crackling, can be found at any Mexico City market. It's most often eaten as a snack—as a crunchy vehicle for guacamole and salsas—or in a guisado, when it's drenched in salsa and cooked until soggy, then spooned into a tortilla. Most vendors sell two varieties: light and puffy with no fat or meat clinging to the skin, and a meaty, fatty version. Only in the outskirts of the city have I seen homemade chicharrón and it turns out it's not too difficult to make. Homemade chicharrón is wonderful with pico de gallo, any salsa, guacamole, or cooked in green sauce and served in a taco when soft. I've kept the pieces large on purpose here, as it's customary in Mexico to break off a piece with your hands, then dip it in a salsa or guacamole.

Ingredients

1½ to 2 pounds pork skin

2 cups canola oil

Salt

Salsa of choice or guacamole, optional

Preparation

Step 1
Preheat the oven to 250°F.
Step 2
Cut the skin into large, wide pieces, about 6 inches long by 4 inches wide.
Step 3
Place the skin on a rack set over a baking sheet and bake for 1 hour. Lower the heat to 200°F and bake for 2 to 3 more hours, until the skin is a dark caramel brown and the top is no longer moist or sticky. (The bottom may still be slightly moist with fat.) Wash the rack and baking sheet, return the rack to the pan, and set them next to the stove.
Step 4
Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven over high heat. When very hot (at least 320°F), add a piece of pork skin. After about 30 seconds, it should bubble and puff up into a chicharrón. Flip if necessary to make sure both sides are cooked. Once puffy and golden brown, transfer to your prepared baking sheet and season with salt. Repeat with the remaining pieces of pork skin.
Step 5
Serve as soon as the pieces have cooled, with salsa or guacamole if desired. Or store the pieces in an airtight container for snacking later. They will keep for up to 5 days.

Cooking Tip

You'll need to find a butcher who sells pork skin and, if she doesn't slice off the fat for you, you'll need a very sharp knife and a lot of patience, unless you're particularly skilled at butchery. (I recommend buying the skin with the fat already scraped off, unless you prefer your chicharrón with a thin layer of fat or meat.) Deep-frying the chicharrón in lard, as cooks do in Mexico, boosts the pork flavor, but it's pungent and can be messy. For something slightly less porcine, try canola oil or another neutral oil suitable for frying.