We all love a good cracklings. After all it's in our cajun DNA, right? I love them, but I never loved making them. Thanks to a little out of the box thinking by my Dad, our resident chef, we have a great recipe to share with you. You'll be cooking these up for every get together. It's a quick, easy, and mess free way to make a small batch of cracklings for your friends and family.
Step 1 get a 2lb package of pork skin from Cross Bar C Deridder. Defrost the pork skin. Cut the pork skin. The goal is to make them small 1 inch cubes. First, cut 1/2 inch vertical strips, then cut vertical strips making 1/2 - 1 inch cubes of pork skin. Making them the same size (or as close to it as you can get) will allow them to cook evenly. *Note you will need a very sharp knife.
Step 3 place about 1/2 cup of water in an electric fryer. Put the pork skin cubes into the frying basket. Set the temperature to 250 degrees. Note: this is a slow process approximately 2 hours. Do not rush the process. Relax and visit with your friends enjoying the aroma of frying pork skins.
Step 4 As the cracklings begin to fry they will turn a golden brown and create pork grease. When the grease reaches about an inch in the bottom of fryer increase the temperature to 300 degrees. Stir occasionally to keep them from sticking. Remember this takes time, so sit back down, visit with friends and enjoy a cold beverage.
The blistering on the surface of the crackling will let you know when they are done. Take them out and let excess grease drain onto a paper towel. Generously sprinkle with your favorite cajun seasoning. Grab another frosty beverage and enjoy!!
A beautiful by product of this whole process is the lard left behind. This as they say, is the "good" stuff. Lard is great for frying fish, eggs, turkey, chicken fried steak (also available at Cross Bar C Deridder) seasoning cast iron and the list goes on. I'm so happy we could share this recipe with you.
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