What do I do with my nippled belly skin?

[jfilmm]

I just purchased an organic 12 lb pork belly. Half of which I am curing ala Blue Hill, the other half I am curing for Chinese bacon. The butcher also gave the sheet of skin which he had removed. Is there anything I can do with this? The square of skin is quite large and must be 2' X 2'! I'd hate to waste it if there is some great culinary spell out there which might transform it into something wonderful. Any advice or recipes?

[007bond-jb]

cut it in 1in X 2in strips & deep fry (cracklins) yumm!!!

[Domestic Goddess]

I almost fell off my chair reading this topic's title. LOL... I agree with 007, make cracklin's (called chicharon in Tagalog or Spanish). Aaaah, chicharon...

Oh, don't just deep fry right away. You need to boil that piggy, nippled skin in water with spices like salt, whole pepper and bay leaf.

Boil cut pork rind in water and salt for approx 30 minutes.

Spread out the cooked pork rind on a baking pan and bake at 300oF or 150oC for 3 hours.

Set aside and let it cool down.

Prepare wok and heat oil over high heat

Gently put cooled pork rind into heated oil and deep-fry it until the pork starts to 'puff' up.

Serve with some dipping sauces eg. vinegar sauce, or chili sauce.

Your chicharon would look like this.

Edited October 25, 2006 by Domestic Goddess (log)

[davecap]

I just made some skins the other day, byproduct of my bacon making, but I do not deep fry.

I cut the skin into bite size cubes, place in a pot and into a 350 degree oven until crispy. May take at least an hour or two. Periodically I stir the skins to keep even crisping, and drain the pork fat that renders, which is amazingly clear and awesome for frying vegetables and other things.

[Kerry Beal]

I leave the nippled skin on the belly when 'makin bacon', then after smoking remove it and keep it in the freezer to add to the crockpot when I'm making baked beans, or as a flavouring when making split pea soup.

I like the idea of making my own pork rinds. Maybe next little piggy.

[jfilmm]

Thanks for the responses, especially Domestic Goddess. I'm going to try your boil- bake-fry method. I'm going to attempt a "pork 3 ways" thing (the cracklin' being the 3rd). It's obviously not a stand alone meal centerpiece, but a couple of pieces next a little sugar-chipotle cured tenderloin and 7 hour braised belly should be fun.

[Domestic Goddess]

Glad to be of help. Oh, we Filipinos would dip our chicharons in vinegar that had some salt and pepper and some chopped onions in it. Now makes me wanna buy piggy skin (but without the nipples). LOL

[jfilmm]

Goddess, what kind of oil do you use to fry the belly strips?

[Domestic Goddess]

Jfilmm- Sorry for not noticing the query in here, you use vegetable oil or corn oil. I have a slab of pork, cut into cubes baking in the oven now. 2 hours from now, I'll be deep-frying these babies into pork cracklings. Aaaah cholesterol heaven.