Chicharrones

After all the eating out and posing at cocktail parties and longing for Asia it's time to return to the blog's roots and love of all things Andalusian! Vamos!

Chicharrones are a porky treat that have already before been featured on the blog once. In Spain it's typical to Andalusia, but it is also popular in South America. In South America the typical way of preparing this snack is by rubbing bicarb on the skin, leaving it in the fridge (until the next day if needed), cutting it into chunks, dumping them into a wok and pouring in enough water to barely cover the meat. Then the meat is simmered away over low heat, turning the meat every now and then. By the time water has evaporated (a 3-4-hour process) and only rendered pork fat remains the heat is turned up and the bits get fried in their own fat (genius, huh?). 

This is a recipe from Cadíz restaurant Moro.

As tapas this serves 4-6

1 kg boneless (organic)pork belly, skin scored

2 cloves of garlic

3 tsp salt

1 tbsp fennel seeds, ground

1/2 onion

to serve: 3 tbsp cumin, lightly toasted and roughly ground, lemon wedges

Rub fennel seeds, garlic and 1 tsp salt into a paste and rub it all over the flesh, Then  flip it around so the skin side is facing up and dry the skin thoroughly. The restaurant itself actually recommends a hair dryer (!) for this. Sprinkle generously with salt and leave for 20 minutes. Dust off excess.

Place the onion half on the bottom of a roasting tin. The convex shape apparently helps the crackling to form. Roast at 230° on the top shelf of the oven for 20-30 until crackling has started to form. Bring the temperature down to 190 and continue cooking until the meat is soft and succulent. Cook completely.

Cut into bite-size chunks and fry on a hot pan (no added oil) until they're crisp. Serve with a sprinkling of cumin and squeeze some lemon juice on top. Oh, and a bottle of chilled San Miguel only makes this better...!

________________________


ANYONE FOR SECONDS?