Pork Crackling. I’m an atheist by trade but dear Primus if there is a foodstuff that indicates that there may be a higher power at work then it is that! Bacon, Ham, Pork – bless the humble pig for growing such tasty flesh upon its bones! Of course it’s not the pigs flesh we are talking about here but the fat.
I’m not a big fat fan as a rule. I always leave it on when cooking so it helps hold in all those lovely meat juices, but I tend to cut it off more often than not when it comes to eating the meat in question. But pork crackling is different – it should be its own food group! Was it not the great Winston Churchil that said ‘All the great things are simple, and many can be expressed in a single word: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope, crackling’ (Historians tend to leave that last word out but many of them are vegetarians – too much time in damp book depositories and not enough exercise so I wouldn’t put it past’em to have cut it on purpose). And today I am going to share with you the simple yet effective way of getting yourself a good a tasty hunk of this salty pig elixir!
Step 1: Select a nice piece of pork for roasting, one with a decent carapace of fat on the top. I usually go for lion roast myself – great for crackling!
Step 2: Score the fat. Using a serrated knife cut thin gashes through the fat to just the edge of the meat beneath. How many gashes you cut is up to you.
Step 3: Rub a mixture of sea salt and oil into the fat, making sure you get plenty in the cuts you have scored.
Step 4: Roast the pork for the appropriate time, depending on the cut of meat and size. Half an hour before the pork is due to be fully cooked remove it from the oven.
Step 5: Use a knife to cut between the pork and the meat and remove the fat in one big piece. Flip the fat over and on the underside sprinkle some table salt and throw on a small dash of lemon juice. Return both the roast and the fat to the oven, making sure the fat is underside up.
Step 6: Remove the pork from oven at the appropriate time and check the fat. It should be solidifying by now and a reddy-brown colour. You should be able to bend the piece of crackling a little bit but not too much. Too dry and it will shatter, too moist and you will be eating a piece of salty rubber. If the crackling appears too moist pop it back in the oven for another 20 minutes, giving it a little spray of oil.
Step 7: Give the crackling a short amount of time to cool – then eat the lot! If someone tries to take it from you – well you are at the dinner table with all those big knives handy – defend your pork!
And that’s it! – oil, salt and a bit of lemon juice is all you need! Oh there are plenty of recipes out there that call for garlic or rosemary (much better on lamb than on pork in my opinion) but for crackling where you want to still taste that delicious pork, then keep it simple and don’t overpower it with competing flavors. Happy eating!
Have a different Pork Crackling recipe? Share it below for everyone to enjoy!
