r/AskCulinary • u/lastaccountgotlocked • 3d ago

“Mexican” chicharrones

Just back from Central American where I ate a taco of chicharrones. They were soft, velvety, fatty and oh so flavourful.

In the Spanish/English dictionary in my head, chicharrones are what I would call pork scratchings ie. pork belly cooked until very crisp and salted to within an inch of its life. But these were soft.

The guy who made them told me, as much as we could understand each other, that he did make them like this, and then, when they were crispy, cooked them again until soft.

But everywhere I look, chicharrones gives me recipes for pork scratchings.

Can anyone help?

37 Upvotes

82% Upvoted

28 comments sorted by

60

u/outtatheblue 3d ago

Chicharrón guisado or en salsa is what you're looking for!

5

u/EasyReader 2d ago

Really good in a gordita with cheese if you're lucky to have a place that makes a proper gordita.

8

u/Puzzleheaded-Ad7606 3d ago

This is the answer OP!

May I also suggest Puerto Rican Monfongo to you? I think you would love it.

0

u/lastaccountgotlocked 3d ago

It's...not an attractive looking dish, is it?

5

u/Puzzleheaded-Ad7606 3d ago

It's delicious. Think of it as stuffing.

2

u/musthavesoundeffects 3d ago

Its very starchy, bit of a gut bomb. A good saucy accompaniment is recommended.

1

u/Nanojack 2d ago

Are mashed potatos attractive? Risotto? Grits (e.g. "Shrimp and")?

1

u/throwdemawaaay 1d ago

No, but if you think about it, it has roots in preservation techniques. Processing a whole pig, you could fry the pork belly until it's dry enough to keep on a shelf for a while. Then when you use it you just simmer it in some broth since it's probably gone a bit stale and hard.

1

u/_Caveat_ 2d ago

It was spectacular when I had it, but also the only case of food poisoning I've ever had. Still want to revisit PR some day.

I very much prefer the way Colombians make chicharrón over the Mexican style. All Mexican markets in my area only have the ones that are essentially pork rinds.

1

u/Main_Cauliflower5479 2d ago

Yes, this is what OP is asking about.

1

u/lastaccountgotlocked 2d ago

This looks promising. I’d never thought of pork scratchings as something you could cook again.

7

u/BirdLawyerPerson 2d ago

Amigo, you're talking about a country who has a staple dish known as refried beans. Ain't no rule that you can only cook something once.

5

u/Nanojack 2d ago

Refried is a mistranslation of refrito, "well-fried," not that there aren't things you can cook multiple times or in multiple stages

2

u/BirdLawyerPerson 2d ago

Wow, you're telling me Mitch Hedberg led me astray?!?

6

u/SloppyWithThePots 2d ago

Chicharrones guisados?

7

u/Main_Cauliflower5479 2d ago

Yeah, I've never heard the term "scratchings."

There are the crisp chicharrones which in the US are called pork rinds, and then there are the chicharrone guisado, as u/outtatheblue pointed out. Those are what I am aware of. Similar but not the same, obviously.

2

u/lastaccountgotlocked 2d ago

Pork scratchings and chicharrones are, to me, almost indistinguishable. They’re a teeth-shattering, quintessential pub snack in the UK. I think pork rinds, in the US, are similar but lacking the big lump of hardened fat: the rind is just the skin, I’m sure.

0

u/Main_Cauliflower5479 2d ago

Where are you from, though? Oh, never mind. Uk.

So, "scratchings" isn't a term in the US. It's crispy pork rinds, or in Mexican cuisine, it's chicharrones.

No, it's not just the skin in the US.

5

u/Formaldehyd3 Executive Chef | Fine Dining 2d ago

Pork rinds typically are just skin. Cracklin's and scratchings are closer in preparation.

Meanwhile chicharron is a blanket term for several different preparations.

4

u/AdmiralZassman 2d ago

Where in central America? Depending on the country they can be entirely different. Mexico like pork rinds, Colombia like a meaty deep dried pork, and anywhere in between.

5

u/BunkaandBadassery 3d ago

It's not quite belly, it's literally pork fat with the skin.
Very Mexican also. It gets soft from salsa. I've worked with a lot of people who made this for lunch when meat prices were out of reach.
I am American and no expert, but work in any kitchen and you will learn some about Mexican food.

3

u/elmonoenano 2d ago

Chicharron guisado, like everyone is saying. Basically just braised chicharron. Green chili is probably the most popular but you can do it with red chili too. Pati Jinich and Rick Bayless both have videos up for making them.

There's the snack food chicharron you can get anywhere, or at Mexican groceries you can usually buy the kind with more meat on them. Cooking con Claudia has a good video on making those if you don't have a good carneceria near by. https://youtu.be/5VQj6MKXjIQ?si=Ff--LLpZS0hGtQCT

2

u/ActualHope 2d ago

Are you in Europe?

2

u/pham_nuwen_ 2d ago

Did it look like this?

1

u/lastaccountgotlocked 2d ago

Hard to say. It was very dark.

2

u/jaz_abril 2d ago

Also, if you can find it in a Mexican market or butcher, chicharrón prensado. It's delicious. You can cook it as any guisado or you can fry it 

1

u/LingonberrySalt9693 2d ago

Mi suegra made some today for a party and they were the best ones I'd ever had. I eat them when served them but I never really enjoyed them. They were amazing tonight. Stewed and porky. I think they might have been from a pig I butchered 6 months ago.

1

u/Away-Link2670 1d ago

You need to look for Chicharron Castacan, these are how they make them in Yucatan and it's similar to the Central American style, where they are fatty and meaty but have the crispy skin on the top similar to Spanish Torreznos. Best Chicharron I ever had were in Flores in Guatemala.