Pork rind is pig skin. Commercially, pork rinds are sold in snack bags as deep fried cracklings, Porky Bits or Chicharrón). Crispy pork rind cracklings are great for picnics and parties.
Portions of pork belly are always available in the market. Occasionally they are available in the meat sections of supermarkets. However, pork belly have plenty of meat under the pork skin. You will have to find the pork skin without the meat to make the pork rind cracklings.
When you have bought the pork rind, give it a good scrub on the surface of the skin. If there are some meat or fat under the skin, you can leave them there. I prefer to cut away the meat and fat under the skin. Only the skin will give the most crunch. The meat and fat will not be as crunchy.
Place the pork rind in a pot and pour in enough hot water so that the pork rind is submerged in the pot of water.
Boil the pork rind for 30 minutes. The skin will softened and look a little translucent.
Remove the pork rind from the pot and discard the water.
Cut the rind into squares or strips or whichever way you prefer your pork cracklings to look like.
*Tip: The fat is easier to remove after the rind has been boiled. Now is the time to cut away the layer of fat if you don’t want to eat it!
Put the rind pieces in a container and sprinkle salt, pepper and garlic over the them. Give them a good toss to mix with the ingredients.
Arrange the rind pieces on a cooling wire over a baking tray. As it is winter now in my country, I put them in the oven to dry over very low heat, around 100-120 degrees Celsius for an hour. Turn off the oven but leave the door closed all the time. This will dehydrate the rind slowly. After a couple of hours, turn on the oven again for about 30 minutes. Repeat the process to dry the pork rind.
This process takes over one hour if the rind is very thin. If the meat and fat are still there, the drying process will be longer. But hey, the crispy pork cracklings are worth the effort and time if you can’t find them in the shops! In summer, you can even let the pork rind dry under the hot sun for several days.
The rind pieces are ready to be deep fried when they look dry and are smaller in size.
Heat up some oil in a small saucepan. Make sure the oil is really hot when frying the rind.
Drop in a few pieces of rind at a time. The pieces of rind will start to expand and puff up when they are being fried.
Remove the crispy pork cracklings from the saucepan when they turn golden brown and are totally puffed up.
Let the cracklings cool on a plate lined with paper towel. The cooled pork rinds can be stored in an airtight container for about a week.
| Nutrition Facts | |
|---|---|
| Serving size: 100g | |
| Calories | 544 |
| Calories from Fat | 279 |
| % Daily Value * | |
| Fat 31 g | 48% |
| Saturated fat 11 g | 55% |
| Unsaturated fat 0 g | |
| Carbohydrates 0 g | |
| Sugar 0 g | |
| Fiber 0 g | |
| Protein 61 g | 122% |
| Cholesterol 95 mg | 32% |
| Sodium 1838 mg | 77% |
| * The Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet, so your values may change depending on your calorie needs. The values here may not be 100% accurate because the recipes have not been professionally evaluated nor have they been evaluated by the U.S. FDA. | |
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© 2014 lady rain
About the author
Lady Rain lives in Australia and enjoys writing about travels, paper quilling crafts and historical events. She wrote on HubPages for 14 years.
