I’ve heard that chicharron is an acquired taste. That may be true being that my mother hates them, while my aunt and I love them. They’re sticky, slimy and amazing.
This recipe will teach you how to make a chicharron like never before. Now, I could easily walk into one of the many Mexican markets around and buy dried out pieces of chicharron and make chicharron tacos, but I prefer the undried skin from a picnic pork roast. Any time I buy one of these bone-in roasts, I save the skin, with just about 1/4-1/2 inch meat still attached, and freeze it until I’m ready to make these awesome tacos.
The Sauce:
1-28 oz can diced petite tomatoes in juice
5 dried chili arbol, stems removed
2/3 small yellow onion, peeled and diced
1 tsp garlic, peeled and chopped
1 tbs oil
2 tbs rice wine vinegar
3/4 tbs chicken bullion powder
The Rest:
1 full pork skin sheet with 1/4 meat still connected
Water for boiling
Oil for softening the tortillas
24 yellow corn tortillas, 2 per taco
2 c cilantro, chopped
1 med white onion, small diced
Start off by adding the tomatoes and juice, onion, garlic and chilis to your food processor. Blend until smooth. Heat the oil in a pan over medium high heat. Carefully pour in your sauce. Add the water, vinegar and bullion. Bring to a boil and reduce to simmer until sauce reduces by 1/3. Stir periodically.
As soon as you start the sauce, begin prepping your skin. Rinse skin off well under cold water. Dry thoroughly. Use a brulé torch to burn any hair off the pig skin. Transfer to a deep pot and fill with water. Bring to a boil and continue boiling for about 30-40 minutes or until the skin has become very soft. Remove from pot and transfer to a cutting board. Slice the skin into 1 inch strips then, dice. Once the sauce has reduced by 1/3, mix in the diced pig skin. Continue simmering over medium low until the sauce has reduced by 1/2 and the chicharron has taken on some of the red color of the sauce and the sauce has thickened.
About 15 minutes before the chicharron are ready to come off the heat, soften your tortillas in a little oil by heating the oil over medium high heat. Use tongs to dip each tortilla in the oil for about 2 seconds. Transfer to paper towels. Softening with oil takes a lot less time using the deep fryer in batches of 3. You can also soften on a comal or flat top.
Start dressing up your tacos by adding about 1/4 c of chicharron to each taco. Top with a sprinkle of onions and cilantro and there you have a fantastic chicharron taco.
Girl-Chef Tastes 