Mexican Pork Scratchings

The boy loves these with a bowl of Guacamole and a couple of bottles of Mexican beer. I would never have thought of pork scratchings as Mexican, but apparently it’s very popular there. Pork rind is incredibly cheap and some supermarkets sell it on its own.

A piece of pork skin (approx. 600g)

1 heaped teaspoon black peppercorns

1tsp allspice berries

1tsp fennel seeds

1tsp finely chopped sage leaves

Zest of 1 orange

2 heaped tbsp. sea salt

Grind the dry spices together (bash in a pestle & mortar or use a coffee grinder) and mix well with the orange zest and sage. Set aside.

Bring a pan of water to the boil and cut the pork rind into pieces about the size of a credit card. Drop into the boiling water and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove and drain.

Rub the spice mix into the skin side and then dry it out in the fridge for about four hours, ideally on a rack.

Get the oven to its hottest and then spread the pork rinds out on baking trays in a single layer. Give it 10 minutes at this heat. The boy is getting bored now so give him a beer with a wedge of lime in the neck. Then turn the heat down to 170/Gas 3, and cook for anywhere between 30 and 90 minutes. Check it from time to time – it should be golden and puffed up, rather than burned.

If you’re smart, drain the fat off every half an hour and use for frying other things during the week.

The boy is mellow from a couple of beers but is getting the munchies. Make up the Guacamole (recipe is here under December 2011). Serve up to one happy boy. He’s doing the world’s worst Mexican accent.