From Wikipedia:
Chicharrón is a dish made of fried
pork rinds. It is sometimes made from chicken, mutton, or beef.
Chicharrón is popular in
Andalucia,
Spain, and in
Latin America is part of the traditional cuisines of Spain, Argentina,
Bolivia,
Brazil(where it is called
torresmo),
Colombia,
Cuba,
Dominican Republic,
Guatemala,
Honduras,
El Salvador,
Mexico,
Nicaragua,
Panama,
Peru,
Philippines,
Puerto Rico,
Venezuela, and others. The singular form,
chicharrón, is also used as a
mass noun, especially in the Philippines where words do not have a pluralized form. They are usually made with different cuts of
pork, but sometimes made with
mutton, or with beef in
Argentina. In
Costa Rica, they are usually made from pork ribs or similar cuts; rinds are rarely used.
Venezuela - In central Venezuela, chicharrones are commonly sold alongside main highways as snacks. The recipe usually produces crispy sizeable portions of pork skin with the underlying meat.
Peru - chicharrones can be eaten as an
appetizer or snack, and the chicken variant can taste like fried chicken found in the United States. Sides include a kind of
red onion relish, fried
yuca, and other regional variants. Chicharrones can also be done with fish.
The cueritos type are also made with pork skin and marinated in vinegar instead of deep fried. They are eaten as a snack.
Mexico - snack-food company
Barcel has commercialized a vegetarian version with
chile and
lime flavorings since the 1980s. Chicharrón de Puerco and chicharrón de cerdo are distributed by many salty snack companies in Mexico.
Puerto Rico - chicharrones are also made with chicken. There are two well known preparations to making chicken chicharrón in Puerto Rico. One way is to marinade the chicken in
dark rum,
lemon juice or zest, salt, and cracked fresh garlic over night. When ready to fry the chicken is pat dry and tossed in flour that has been seasoned with
adobo seco and
paprika. The second way to prepare chicken chicharrón is to dip the chicken in an egg and Tabasco mix then in to seasoned flour with adobo seco, paprika, and maybe
cayenne pepper. Pork chicharrón is usually mashed and stuffed into
mofongo.
Philippines -
chicharon, as it is spelled in
Filipino (a derivative of the
Spanish word
chicharrón). This dish is usually bought from
balut vendors as
pulutan. It is prepared by deep frying the dried pork rind with a little salt. It is sometimes eaten with vinegar, chopped chillies in vinegar or with
bagoong,
lechon liver sauce, or pickled papaya called
atchara.
Chicharong manok, which is made from chicken skin, and
chicharong bulaklak, which is deep fried pig intestines, are also popular.
Bolivia - chicharrón is made out of pork ribs seasoned with garlic, oregano and lemon. It is boiled then cooked in its own fat, adding beer or
chicha to the pot for more flavor. Pork chicharrón is normally served only on Sundays and is eaten with
llajwa, a tomato salsa, and mote, a type of corn. There are other variations of chicharrón made with chicken and fish.
Dominican Republic - chicharrones, specially chicken chicharrón (also known as
pica-pollo), are usually eaten with
tostones. The way to prepare it is by washing and drying chicken and cutting it into small pieces, which are seasoned with a mix of lemon juice, soy sauce and salt. The batter is made from flour, pepper, paprika and salt in plastic bag, in which the seasoned meat is then placed and shaken. Pieces are deep-fried (without removing excess flour) until crisp and golden.
United States -
Chicharrón are usually made from pig skin. They are usually sold in plastic bags as a snack food item and generically referred to as "
pork rinds." They are made in a two-step process: the pork skin is first rendered and dried, and then fried and puffed.
[1]In
New Mexico, the term is often taken to mean just fried pork fat, sometimes with incidental bits of lean meat.
