cracklings

Easily the most popular classic Puerto Rican dish, mofongo is flavorful, satisfying and layered with history. The ingredients and process reference the island’s Indigenous and African roots alongside Spanish flavors. While this preparation uses chicharrón or pork cracklings, you can easily make it vegan by omitting the pork and adding a little extra garlic and olive oil. The trick to great mofongo is to work quickly: Heat your garlic and olive oil mojo while your plantains are frying, and smash everything together as soon as they’re done. You can stuff mofongo with seafood or roast pork, if you like, and serve it with guiso, a flavorful, sofrito-scented tomato sauce, or even use it to stuff a Thanksgiving turkey. The included recipe for guiso is optional but recommended, as it adds dimension and moisture, particularly for a vegan preparation.

Mofongo

olive oil

fresh sofrito (see Arroz con Pollo recipe

tomato sauce (basic canned tomato sauce is fine)

vegetable oil

garlic cloves

kosher salt,

lime juice,

green plantains (see Note)

chicharrón or pork cracklings,

Lime wedges and cilantro, for garnish (optional)

Prepare the guiso, if using: Heat olive oil in a small saucepan over medium heat for 1 to 2 minutes, until simmering. Add sofrito, reduce heat to medium-low and sauté for 3 to 5 minutes until liquid is evaporated.

Pour in tomato sauce, partially cover with a lid, and simmer over low for 7 to 10 minutes. Sauce will thicken and darken in color.

While sauce simmers, prepare the mofongo: Pour vegetable oil into a medium saucepan until it reaches a 3-inch depth, then heat over medium-high.

Meanwhile, crush garlic and 1 teaspoon salt in a pilón or large mortar and pestle until a wet paste forms.

In a separate, small saucepan, heat 1/4 cup olive oil over medium until just simmering, about 5 minutes. Slowly pour this hot oil on top of the garlic, carefully stirring to incorporate. It’ll sizzle, and the garlic may turn light green. Add lime juice to complete the mojo.

Peel plantains by cutting off both ends, then make three lengthwise slices through the skin. Carefully pull up the peel and remove it, starting at one of the corners with the edge of your fingernail or the tip of your knife if tough, then cut the plantains into 1 1/2-inch rounds. (Be careful: Plantain skins will stain your hands and clothing.)

Once the vegetable oil is simmering somewhere between 350 and 375 degrees — you can test by adding a small piece of plantain; it will sizzle when the oil is hot enough — add plantains in 2 or 3 batches, taking care not to crown the pot. Fry each batch for 6 to 9 minutes, stirring lightly a few times, until the plantains begin to brown. Be careful not to let them get too dark, or they’ll be hard and dry. Use a slotted spoon or mesh strainer to transfer plantains to a towel-lined bowl.

If you have a large enough pilón, add fried plantains and chicharrón, if using, until pilón is three-quarters full. Mash together, alternating pounding and grinding. Once mixture has condensed to about half its original size, add 1 heaping tablespoon of the prepared mojo (or to taste), and continue grinding and mashing until fully combined. The mixture will look like stuffing.

If you don’t have a pilón, combine plantains, chicharrón and mojo in a large wooden bowl. Using the bottom of a slender jar, such as an olive jar, mash together to incorporate, rotating the bowl after each mash. Pound, grind and mash until mofongo is blended.

Form the mashed mixture into 4 individual mofongos, each roughly the size of a baseball, or press into the bottom of a small rice bowl, then turn each onto a plate or into a larger bowl.

Serve immediately, garnished with extra chicharrón, lime wedges and cilantro, if you like. Spoon over guiso as desired.

Easy and delicious!  Try this recipe and I can guarantee you will not be disappointed.

Air Fryer Pork Cracklings and Lard

pork

salt

tbsp garlic

tbsp smoked paprika

Using kitchen scissors, cut pork fat cap into the desired size.  I did 2-inch strips.

Place pork in the air fryer and set the air fryer to 390 degrees.

Set time for 20 minutes, checking at the 10-minute mark and stirring pork.

Add additional 5-minute intervals until the pork is crunchy on the outside (mine took 27 minutes total)

Let cool and remove cracklings from the air fryer. 

Pour pork fat into a glass jar and allow it to cool before refrigerating.

How to make Pork Cracklings in an Air Fryer

Remove the fat cap from the freezer and let stand 5-10 minutes

Place fat cap and water in the slow cooker and set on high for 8 hours

After 8 hours, remove any leftover fat with a slotted spoon and drain the lard into a glass jar.  Place remaining pieces of fat in a skillet with salt and onion.  Cook on high for 5-10 minutes or until brown.

How to make Pork Cracklings in a slow cooker

Pork Rinds made in an Air Fryer is a perfect idea to make a great Puffy and Curly Keto Snack with your movie night. This ever so popular 0 carb substitution is greatly used in a low carb cuisine instead of your regular breadcrumbs. Fully Gluten-Free and Grain-Free full of collagen, this is a genius food choice to enjoy our lifestyle.

Air Fryer Pork Rinds

kg (approx 1,1 lb) Pork Skin

First of all, make sure the pork skin...

First of all, make sure the pork skin you have bought is at its best quality and fully clean. If it is not clean just wash it properly and dry with a paper towel.

Cut the pork skin into the blocks, which...

Cut the pork skin into the blocks, which will fit into your cooking pot. Place all of the skin inside the cooking pot, add water and use a heavy subject to make sure the skin is always submerged under the water. Cook the skin for approximately an hour.

Once your pork skin is cooked, let it...

Once your pork skin is cooked, let it cool and make sure it is fully dry. With a sharp knife scrape the remaining fat which has been on.

When all of the pieces are fully dry,...

When all of the pieces are fully dry, place them one by one on the dehydrator racks and switch on the dehydrator for approximately eight hours.

After the pork skin is fully dehydrated, take...

After the pork skin is fully dehydrated, take them all and place them in a jar or a bowl.

Once you’re ready to air fry, place a...

Once you’re ready to air fry, place a few pieces of the dehydrated pork skin into an air fryer. Bear in mind that the Pork Rinds will double in size and need a lot of space for them to pop up properly. Therefore use only a handful amount of pork skin. Switch on the air fryer on the highest temperature for approximately 7 to 10 minutes at 200C or 400F.

In about 10 minutes you should have a...

In about 10 minutes you should have a beautiful crunchy Cracklings or Pork Rinds done in an air fryer.

While still warm, sprinkle them with salt or...

While still warm, sprinkle them with salt or season with your favorite spices.

https://mediavine-res.cloudinary.com/video/upload/bxblyfq8hz6l0ahq7xtu.mp4

Pork Rinds made in an Air Fryer is a perfect idea to make a great puffy Curly Keto Snack with your movie night. This ever so popular 0 carb substitution is greatly used in a low carb cuisine instead of your regular breadcrumbs. Fully Gluten-Free and Grain-Free full of collagen, this is a genius food choice to enjoy our lifestyle.

How to make Pork Rinds in an Air Fryer

This fresh, homemade pork rind recipe makes crunchy and airy pork rinds (aka chicharrones) for a tasty, better-than-store-bought snack!

Homemade Pork Rinds

pork skin (or ~ 6 lbs skin-on pork belly)

salt +

avocado oil

Remove skin

If starting with pork skin, you can skip this step. If starting with pork belly with the skin on, cut the pork belly into 1 inch strips. Using kitchen shears or a sharp knife, cut the skin away from the fat, cutting as close to the skin as possible without cutting through the skin. 

Cut into bite sized pieces

Using kitchen shears or a sharp knife, cut the pork skin strips into bite sized pieces, either 1 x 1 inch strips or 1 x 2 inch strips.

Boil pork skins to soften them

Fill a large pot halfway with water. Add 1-2 teaspoons of salt and pork skins to the water. Bring to a boil. Let boil for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

Stain water

Remove from the heat and pour the water off of the pork skins by straining it through a colander.

Remove excess fat

Once the pork skins are cool enough to handle, trim away any excess fat from the skin. Take a paring knife and scrap or slice the fat off the skin of each piece. It's okay if a little bit of the fat remains. These edges just might be a little softer and may not puff up as much. 

Scatter on a baking tray

Scatter the pork skins on a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper or foil. Sprinkle salt or desired seasoning. Toss to evenly coat. Then evenly space the pork skins on the tray so they don’t touch each other. Place them skin side up. 

Bake to dry out

Bake at 200 degrees for 4 hours. Once done baking, remove from the oven. This is a stopping point where you can store your dried pork skins overnight in an airtight container.

Heat oil

To fry, fill a large saucepan with 1-2 inches of avocado oil, lard or any other oil with a high smoke point. Heat oil to 350 degrees. 

Fry pork skins

Once oil is hot enough, gently drop in a few pork skins by lowering them into the hot oil with a slotted spoon. Gently stir to help separate the pork skins to keep them from sticking to each other. After a few seconds the pork skins will start to pop like popcorn corn and puff up into a crispy pork rind. Let them cook for 2-3 minutes, gently stirring to ensure they are cooked through and will remain crispy. Pulling them right after they puff will cause them to deflate a bit and they won’t be as crunchy. Once they are done cooking, remove them with a slotted spoon and transfer to a paper towel lined plate. Season again if needed. Repeat with remaining pork skins. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1RSyMJYYXY

These two-ingredient crispy chicken skin chips can be made in an air fryer or oven. I bet you can’t eat just one chicken crackling!

Crispy Chicken Skin Chips (Chicken Cracklings)

chicken skins (I normally use skins from chicken thighs)

Diamond Crystal kosher salt

Pat the chicken skins dry with a paper towel and sprinkle salt on both sides.

Lay three or four chicken skins in a single layer, skin-side down, on the air fryer basket and program the air fryer to cook at 400°F for a total of 12 minutes.

At the halfway point (i.e. 6 minutes), flip the chicken skins over so they are skin-side up.

Air fry the chicken skins the remaining 6 minutes or until crispy. Add a minute or two to the cooking time if the skin is still a little flabby in parts.

Remove the chicken cracklings from the air fryer and place on a wire rack to cool.

Dump out any chicken fat on the bottom of the air fryer before repeating the steps with the remaining chicken skins.

Air Fryer instructions

Heat the oven to 400°F convection or 425°F (non-convection) with the rack in the middle. Place the chicken skin in a single layer, skin-side down, on top of stainless steel wire rack on a foil-lined rimmed baking sheet.

Pop the tray in the oven and bake for 10 minutes.

Then, flip the chicken skins skin-side up and bake for 10 more minutes or until golden and crispy.

Oven instructions

These are great!   Like if bacon and a pork rind shared a bottle of tequila ... 

After I made them, I realized there is a *glaring* omission in this process!   You need to have a jar or other glass vessel to harvest the 2-3oz of schmalz!!!!  I feel so guilty discarding as I wasn't prepared.   Next time for sure!!!

Thank you for sharing!
The recipe looks great. What is the approximate weight of the finished Chicken Cracklings from the 8 thighs? Large or medium size chicken thighs?
I need a replacement for pork rind panko crumbs for a breading recipe.

I poach about ten lbs of chicken thighs every week to ten day for a senior dogs with digestive issues, and the skin-on bone-in is so much more economical.  Now I have no issue of how to dispose of the fatty skin.  12 minutes in an air fryer in one layer batches, and I do not need chicharrónes.  A little sprinkling of sea salt and. viola! The perfect Keto snack.

These were great.  I seasoned them a little before putting them in the oven, and munched on them with a simple baba ganoush of eggplant, lemon and tahini.  Yum!!

These were soooo good and super-easy to make in the air fryer! Reminded me of tasty fried chicken. I'll definitely be making these again, thanks!

Unless when stored in a ring sealed jar &amp; stored in the deep freeze.

Hi,can you pls link where can I buy the wire rack/ baking tray that you used to bake the chicken skins? 

Thanks,
Susanna

FANTASTIC!  I pulled the skin off of some boneless chicken thighs that I was using to make Chicken Satay and fried them up following the instructions exactly in my AF (basket type).  I wouldn't change a thing. I ate some right away, because I couldn't resist, and when I served the Chicken Satay, along with Peanut Sauce, I had a side of Jasmine rice that I topped with sliced scallions and some of the fried chicken skin slightly crushed for some great crunchy texture.

https://content.jwplatform.com/videos/CpTRnRe2.mp4

These two-ingredient crispy chicken skin chips are the perfect paleo, low carb, keto, and Whole30-friendly snack.

Top 5 cracklings recipes from across the web

The most viewed cracklings recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 6,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine

Top Tags

Mofongo

Air Fryer Pork Cracklings and Lard

Air Fryer Pork Rinds

Homemade Pork Rinds

Crispy Chicken Skin Chips (Chicken ...

Top 5 cracklings recipes from across the web

The most viewed cracklings recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 6,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engineic_arrow_forward_48px

Top Tags

Mofongo

Air Fryer Pork Cracklings and Lard

Air Fryer Pork Rinds

Homemade Pork Rinds

Crispy Chicken Skin Chips (Chicken ...

The most viewed cracklings recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 6,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine