PORK SCRATCHINGS – DOUBLE COOKED

After a gazillion trials and errors, I think I’ve finally arrived at an acceptable recipe for pork scratchings.

Pork scratchings are made from pork skin with some fat on it. And sometimes pieces of actual pork meat.

Then there are pork cracklings which are actually like scratchings, but closer to pork rinds.

Step 1:

Anyway, enough of the theory, get some pork skin and clean it, scrape it, and if there are parts with too much fat or too much meat, remove it. But don’t take all of it off leaving only the skin.

Step 2:

The next step is to wash thoroughly.

Step 3:

After washing thoroughly cut it into pieces roughly 1-inch square pieces and then put them in a pot. This is the pot that I use, for the entire process.

Step 4:

Season the pork with salt. Salt sparingly, the fat will really absorb all the salt and if you put too much you’re likely to get a scratching that’s too salty. You can also add a little pepper or any seasoning you want.

Step 5:

Add water to cover the pork in the pot, say to about 1-inch. I know, I know, seems like overkill. But in this recipe we’re going to completely boil the pork.

Step 6:

Put the pork on the stove, turn it up, cover the pot and wait till the water’s completely gone. Boil baby boil. I normally use about 1kg of pork skin with fat, and it takes about an hour to really boil out all the water.

Step 7:

Once all the water is gone, and the skin is really soft, turn down the heat to very, very low. The fat on the skin will start to render. Be careful, if the stove is too hot the process may proceed too quickly. You don’t want to cook the skin now, just render the fat so start stirring, and keep stirring the pork in the pot. Stir, stir, stir and you’ll see the fat start to accumulate at the bottom of the pot.

Step 8:

Once most of the fat is rendered, the skin also starts to lose moisture and slowly start to turn from a pinkish colour to white. The surface of the skin starts to crispen and bubble. When that happens, it’s time to take it off the heat and let it cool. Don’t forget to turn off your stove.

Step 9:

Cooling will take about 1 hour, during which time you can salivate over the deliciousness that is drawing ever nearer. Or you can take a walk and contemplate life’s complexities, the mysteries of the universe or what actually causes aging. That should take about an hour, by which time the pork fat has cooled.

Step 10:

Remove the pork from the rendered fat. Use a sieve to make sure you’re not scooping all of the fat out of the pot. Depending on how fatty the cut of pork you bought was, you may not have a lot of fat left at the bottom, so I normally add some oil. I prefer to use lard, but I have also used olive oil. Be generous, don’t skimp because you want the pork to be completely covered in the next step.

Step 11:

Turn your stove back on and put the pot with the oil back on it. To speed up the heating process you should cover it. Make sure you get a really nice rolling boil. While that’s taking place, use a fork to separate the pieces of pork. They tend to stick together as they cool and cooking them as a huge lump won’t be successful. Check the pot, don’t leave it unattended. Make sure the oil is nice and hot, a rolling boil.

Step 12:

Now, this is the step to be super careful. You’ve been warned. Put the top of the pot carefully to the side, do not attempt to put the pork in while holding the top with your other hand. Now, using the same sieve you used to take out the pork, put it back into the pot. You have about 15 seconds before things go south. As soon as all the pork is in the boiling oil, it will immediately begin to sizzle and crackle. The sizzling and crackling will cause intermittent pops from the pork as the water from the skin expands as vapor, causing the skin to bubble and also to inflate. Cover the pot and hold the cover down. The sizzling and crackling will increase in intensity to the point where it could fly up to the roof! In any case, it is quite dangerous to try this without the cover in place and firmly held down. If you do not hold it down, it will blow the cover off.

Step 13:

The sizzling and crackling will slow down as the water completely evaporates. When you can no longer hear it making a lot of noise in the pot, carefully open the top and begin stirring the pork around. Some will have inevitably stuck, and you can pry them apart. The skin should have developed a nice crust, and any fat left on the pork will have started to also fry out.

Step 14:

Lower the heat when the pork is now only bubbling gently in the boiling oil. Continue to stir making sure that the pork is turning a nice golden brown. Eventually the bubbling will stop, and the pork will have crisped enough. The scratchings are ready.

Step 15:

Turn off the stove and remove the pot from the top of the burner. Carefully, using the sieve, remove the pork from the oil. Make sure you drain as much oil from the pork as you take it out of the pot. Put it in a place, no need to use paper towels, but you can if you want. I don’t. As you take scoops out, lightly salt the pork. Salting while the pork is hot ensures that the light salt sticks to the scratchings.

Step 16:

Let the pork cool and continue to harden. When it’s warm it may still be slightly softer, but it will harden in the plate. Then later, enjoy.