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CHICHARRONES DE CÁDIZ

Chicharrones are a meatier and classier variation of pork scratchings. This Cádiz version is made by slow-roasting belly of pork, chopping it up and serving it with lots of freshly squeezed lemon juice and ground cumin.

 

Serves 4-6

 

Ingredients

2 garlic cloves, crushed to a paste with 1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon ground fennel seeds
1kg piece of organic or free-range pork belly, skin scored
2 teaspoons fine sea salt
½ medium onion, peeled
½ lemon, cut into wedges, to serve (optional)

 

TO FINISH
juice of 2 lemons
3 teaspoons cumin seeds, lightly toasted and roughly ground
(page 34)

 

The following is the Moro recipe for roast pork belly, but if you have a tried and trusted method, feel free to use your own.

 

Preheat the oven to 230°C/450°F/Gas 8. Mix the garlic with the fennel seeds and rub it over the flesh side of the pork belly. Turn the meat over and dry the skin thoroughly – a hair dryer works well. Generously sprinkle the skin with the salt. Leave for 20 minutes, then dust off the excess salt.

 

Place the onion half in a roasting tin and put the pork belly on top to create a convex shape, which will help the crackling form. Place on the top shelf of the oven. It is important that the oven is really hot to start with, in order to blister the skin and create good crackling. Roast at this high heat for 20-30 minutes or until hard crackling has formed, then reduce the heat to 190°C/375°F/Gas 5. Pour 3 tablespoons of water into the bottom of the pan to prevent the meat juices burning. Continue to cook for about 2 hours or until the meat is soft and tender. Cool completely and remove any bones. Dice the pork into generous bite-sized cubes.

 

Heat a frying pan until hot, but don’t add any oil. Fry the cubes of pork until they have caramelised, crisped up and heated through. Transfer to a plate, squeeze over plenty of lemon juice and sprinkle liberally with the cumin. Add extra salt to taste if needed.