Pork Scratchings Recipe?

[zarniwoop]

Hi All,

I'm looking for a good recipe for that particularly delicious English pub snack pork scratchings. I've tried a couple online but they were fairly horrible, has anyone got a good one?

For those of you not familiar with this sophisticated delicacy it's basically pork rind baked with oil and salt, very similar to crackling on a roast. I've tried to buy them locally but apparently you can't import British meat products owing to barking cow fever (interesting side note I can't donate blood as I was a pom during this period in British agricultural history - makes me wonder what awaits my brain a decade or two from now...) There are some products called pork somethings in the supermaket here but they're not even close to this coronary inducing packet of salted pig skin.

Any ideas?


Cheers

Zarniwoop

 

[seamad]

I made some recently , was making some bacon which I skinned first (loin) and it seemed a waste to give the rind to the dog/bin.
I removed all the fat off the skin and cut it up into bite sized bits. Bring some salty water to a boil and simmer rind for @ 30 minutes. I then spread out on some racks and put in the fridge for a day or so to dry out ( could this in the oven too I spose)
Then deep fried in batches and sprinkled with salt, effen delicious .
Problem was a day or so after making it I caught the simultaneous vomiting/shitting bug that the kids had just had, so the missus and the kids ate most of it. Will be making some snags this week so I'll make some more.

 

[vykuza]

I made some at the request of a mate a few years back with great success.

Get a large quantity of pig skin - remove any big chunks of the fat from the back.

Cut it in to 5cm chunks (harder than it sounds, so make sure you sharpen your knife up nicely, or use shears/scissors) and add to a large pot of boiling water with loads of salt. Lower to a simmer and cook for 25-30 minutes.

Strain, then dry the skin as much as possible. Put it on an oven rack (not tray, you want it to have air circulating around it) and roast at 140C for 60-90 minutes until dried.

THEN deep fry them at medium temp for a couple of minutes and they'll curl and get the right texture and crunch.

Sprinkle with ground salt and eat.

Good luck!

 

[Blind Dog]

Dont you need pig fleas for pork scratching?


I'll get my coat...

 

[zarniwoop]

Thanks for the ideas. Any indication of how much salt into the water?

Also does anyone know how long you can keep them for?

 

[StalkingWilbur]

Damn. That looks delicious!

 

[seamad]

I just put a couple of tablespoons of salt in about 4 litres of water. They will last as long as you can resist eating them
Mine were in an airtight container and were probably @ for 3 weeks.

 

[zarniwoop]

Thanks presumably you sprinkle with salt after deep frying?

 

[vykuza]

Indeed. Crush or grind it finer first, using a mortar and pestle if you have one. It sticks better if it's powdered rather than in grains.

 

[browndog]

Also, you can buys bags of it in asian stores for bugger all.

 

[zarniwoop]

Also, you can buys bags of it in asian stores for bugger all.

The salt?

 

[browndog]

The salt?

No, bags of pork scratchings. About 5 bucks for a big bag. Not sure if it is just a Filipino thing or across most asian cultures.

 

[zarniwoop]

No, bags of pork scratchings. About 5 bucks for a big bag. Not sure if it is just a Filipino thing or across most asian cultures.

Interesting, there are a couple of different types available, the English ones are very similar to crackling from a roast but normally slightly softer, they're quite dense and fatty. The ones you can buy in the supermarket here are more similar to puffed chips than pork scratchings, which are the ones you mention closer to?

 

[browndog]

Yes, I reckon the asian ones are deep fried as they are uniformly light and crispy..... but delicious never the less.

 

[zarniwoop]

That's a shame, oh well looks like I'm making them.

 

[Kai]

I have a method for a form of pork scratchings that I use from time to time. It's not quite what you're after, and it's very time and labour intensive for a small (but delicious) return, so I don't do it very often. It also uses up what would otherwise become food scraps in my kitchen.

Buy some bacon rashers and cut the rind off, as close to the skin as you can. I just do this whenever I'm frying up and save the rind in the freezer. Collect a goodly amount. You can trim the excess fat off the rind later if need be, and it comes off easier if you boil the rinds for several minutes first, but a sharp knife and attention to detail works too. I do the latter.

When I have a good freezer collection of rinds, I sprinkle a little rock salt on, mix in and leave for 20-30 minutes. This is more for flavour than dehydration. Then I toss the rinds into the food dehydrator (ten bucks from the op shop) and give them several hours of drying time.

Once they're nicely dried out, a visual assessment will confirm, deep fry a handful at a time. They snake up into a curly nest of fatty, salty delicious porky goodness.

 

[AndrewQLD]

Yumm


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[beanroy]

I have never tried this combination. Great invention!

 

[beanroy]

Here is the recipe for Spiced pork scratchings

1½ tbsp sea salt
¼tsp smoked paprika (sweet or hot)
½tsp whole cumin seeds
½tsp whole fennel seeds
500g pork rind, with at least 1cm of fat.
Roast the whole spices until fragrant and grind together with paprika and then mix in ½ the salt.
Preheat the oven to 220C/gas mark 6.
If the rind hasn't been cut, a pair of sturdy scissors will do the job. Rub the rind with half of the salt and leave for 20 minutes.
Put the pieces on a rack in a roasting tray without touching each other.
Roast in the oven for 20-25 minutes. You don't have to use a rack but using one will drain some of the fat away. Turn the roasting tray around every five minutes or so, making sure the rind doesn't burn or catch. When the scratchings are bubbly and crisp they are ready.
Mix together the spices and hot scratchings in a bowl and toss to give them a good coating.They are best eaten quite soon after cooking, but will keep in an airtight container for a few days.