Fried Pork Belly Chicharron

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Fried Pork Belly Chicharron

You can find chicharrónes on the tables in Mexican, Filipino, Argentinian, Cuban, and Spanish, especially during special occasions. What is a chicharron? This dish begins with pork belly or rinds.

Depending on your location, a chicharron may become pork belly with skin attached, and others only use pork rinds. In both cases, the skin receives a hardy helping of seasonings and is fried until crispy.

What to Expect

When it comes to flavor, chicharron packs a wallop. It is savory, rich, and sensual. After you recover from that first bite, you’ll notice the crispy texture married to soft meat. It’s somewhat like bacon. Some people (me) fall in love with fried pork belly, and my opinion is mirrored in restaurants and on TV.

Tip

Use maple, apple, a hickory-apple blend, or cherry-pecan blended smoking wood or pellets.

Ingredients

  • 2 lbs. pork belly (feeds about 4 people)
  • Cuso’s Lemon Pepper Seasoning
  • 2 avocados, ripe
  • 1/2 small white onion, finely diced
  • 1 Roma tomato, diced
  • 1 tbsp fresh chopped cilantro
  • 1 Serrano pepper
  • ½ lime, juiced
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • ¼ tsp sugar
  • ¼ tsp vinegar
  • 1 c sour cream

Instructions

  1. Preheat the smoker to 275F
  2. Lay the meat flat on a cutting board and begin scoring on both sides with a Chef’s Knife (take care not to cut through).
  3. Poke holes in the fat 
  4. Apply the lemon pepper seasoning evenly all over (don’t miss those cracks from your cuts)
  5. Let the pork belly smoke for 2 hours (check your meat thermometer - you need 180F)
  6. Those two hours give you plenty of time for making guacamole (you can’t beat fresh)
  7. Remove the flesh from the avocados and give them a good smush.
  8. Mash them using a kitchen fork
  9. Prepare the onion, 
  10. Slice the avocados in half and remove all the flesh into a mixing bowl
  11. Mash the avocado flesh using a fork
  12. Chop up your tomato, onions, cilantro and serrano pepper
  13. Stir the lime salt, vinegar, sugar, and sour cream into the mix
  14. Chill
  15. Set your deep frier for 350F
  16. Once you take the pork belly from the smoker, now it’s time to fry that meat
  17. Each side needs about six minutes for that crunch you desire
  18. Serve it with guacamole on the sides

PitMaster’s Memo: Guacamole - An Aztec Treasure

Leave it to the creative Aztecs to come up with the blend for Guacamole around the 1500s, and the ingredients weren’t much different from those you see in modern recipes. Tip to lovers: the Aztecs say this is a potent aphrodisiac.

Sides

Blistered Shishito peppers

Couscous corn salad

German potato salad

Pineapple pico

Quick pickled onions

Deserts

Bread pudding

Caramel flan

Churros

Cranberry crumble

Peanut butter cookies

From the Bar

Apple martini

Ginger ale

Horchata

Mexican beer

Reisling

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Ingredients

  • 2 lbs. pork belly (feeds about 4 people)
  • Cuso’s Lemon Pepper Seasoning
  • 2 avocados, ripe
  • 1/2 small white onion, finely diced
  • 1 Roma tomato, diced
  • 1 tbsp fresh chopped cilantro
  • 1 Serrano pepper
  • ½ lime, juiced
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • ¼ tsp sugar
  • ¼ tsp vinegar
  • 1 c sour cream

Instructions

  1. Preheat the smoker to 275F
  2. Lay the meat flat on a cutting board and begin scoring on both sides with a Chef’s Knife (take care not to cut through).
  3. Poke holes in the fat 
  4. Apply the lemon pepper seasoning evenly all over (don’t miss those cracks from your cuts)
  5. Let the pork belly smoke for 2 hours (check your meat thermometer - you need 180F)
  6. Those two hours give you plenty of time for making guacamole (you can’t beat fresh)
  7. Remove the flesh from the avocados and give them a good smush.
  8. Mash them using a kitchen fork
  9. Prepare the onion, 
  10. Slice the avocados in half and remove all the flesh into a mixing bowl
  11. Mash the avocado flesh using a fork
  12. Chop up your tomato, onions, cilantro and serrano pepper
  13. Stir the lime salt, vinegar, sugar, and sour cream into the mix
  14. Chill
  15. Set your deep frier for 350F
  16. Once you take the pork belly from the smoker, now it’s time to fry that meat
  17. Each side needs about six minutes for that crunch you desire
  18. Serve it with guacamole on the sides

Seasonings & BBQ Rubs, Handmade Chef Knives

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