Pork Rinds

The Best Pork Rinds

Truthfully, making Pork Rinds isn’t all that difficult to do but it is quite a time consuming process and one that you might rather avoid if you don’t mind buying a bag of fried pig skins or cracklings, instead. I say that, mostly, because you don’t save any money, doing it yourself, and cooking these fresh doesn’t seem to improve the taste or flavor, in my opinion. I like to eat Pork Rinds as much as anyone, so don’t take my thoughts the wrong way. Just know that I’d rather just buy a premade bag instead of making them myself, next time(unless I have skin I don’t want to go to waste). So if nothing else, you can at least learn how it’s done and hopefully enjoy this post, recipe and the work I put in to making the Pork Rinds video.

Purchasing Skins for Pork Rinds

As you can see, in the photo above, I purchased my Skins, to make Pork Rinds, from my local Asian Market. Skins usually come from the Belly side of the pig, where the the bacon is removed. So there’s generally a ton of fat associated with the cuts. I paid $2 dollars a pound, for this package, so I didn’t really save any money vs. buying a premade bag of Pork Rinds. But, because the fat was already removed I didn’t get charged for all the extra weight. Though, I’m sure if it were still attached, the price would’ve been altered accordingly. Regardless, you should be able to purchase pig skin from any butcher that sells pork.

Making Pork Rinds

As I mentioned before, making Pork Rinds is time consuming and quite tedious. Even though the majority of the fat content was removed from the skins, the skin needs to be boiled and scraped to ensure that all of the fat is gone. And it’s best to boil the skins whole, before cutting and slicing them into portions. This way you can do it in large sheets instead of individual 1 inch pieces. Removing the fat, completely, helps to aerate the skin when it bakes and helps the Rinds fluff up more when they’re frying. In the video, I Boil the Pork Rinds for 30 minutes, strain and then baked them, on low, for approximately 4 hours before frying. Then once they are removed from the oven, they can be dropped in a deep fryer set at 350 degrees Fahrenheit, for 2 minutes.

Fried Pork Rinds

A few things you need to consider, when making Pork Rinds, is that there are several different ways you can screw these up. If you’ve ever bitten into a pork rind that just about broke your tooth or was just too hard to chew, then you need to pay attention to a few things. First, cut off tough and discolored edges that seem dried out and pleathery. Second, again, be sure to scrape out the fat. And third, be sure to remove all of the pieces that that didn’t puff up in the fryer. You follow those three easy steps and all of your teeth will stay intact.

As far as seasonings go, anything with onion and garlic powder in them is generally a good way to go but you can use ranch powder, adobo, pico de gallo or just plain old salt and pepper.

Pork Rinds Ingredients:

2 lbs Pig Skin
2 Quarts Water
1/4 cup Salt
Oil for Frying
You’re Favorite Seasoning

Be sure to remove all of the fat from the skin, boil the skin for 30 minutes, bake the skins on low for 2 to 4 hours and
deep fry the skins at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for approximately 2 minutes. Place the Pork Rinds on paper towels and
season with your favorite seasoning or salt.

Kalua Pork Burrito

The Best Kalua Pork Burrito

This Kalua Pork Burrito is so refreshing it’s like a tall cold glass of water, it’s that good. Hawaiian meets Tex-Mex and it’s not crudded up with too many spices or seasonings either. In fact, the only added seasoning in this entire combo is Hawaiian Sea Salt and Lime Juice. So the great thing about that is you’re completely relying on the flavors of all of the other natural ingredients. But, if you “just gotta”, add Cumin to the pulled pork.

Pork Burrito made from Leftovers

Carnitas is what you normally here or read on a menu when you’re ordering a Pork Burrito. But this particular burrito was the direct results of my leftover Kalua Pork that was served up on my birthday. So whether you call it Carnitas or just another Pork Burrito, you’re going to love this Wrap. And just so you know, the list of recipes that can be made from a Kalua Pork Roast goes on and on and I’ll list the recipes I’ve already posted down below as well as the original Kalua Pork Roast recipe. Also, I’ve got a great Seafood Enchilada recipe that will blow you’re mind, along with the original Salsa recipe I use in this video.

Kalua Pork Roast(Oven), Kalua Pork Roast(Crock-Pot), Seafood Enchilada,
Pulled Pork Fries, Kalua Pork Tamales, Homemade Salsa

Kalua Pork Burrito Ingredients:

1 pkg Large Tortilla’s
1 Kalua Pork Roast
2 cups Rice
1 can Black Beans, large
1 tbsp Fresh Cilantro, chopped
2 Avocados, sliced
1/2 Lime, squeezed
1/2 lbs Cheese, graded
1/2 cup Salsa
1/2 cup Sour Cream, optional
Salt to taste, rice

Follow my recipe video tutorials and implement the ingredients to make this wonderful Kalua Pork Burrito.

Pork Roast – Oven Roasted Kalua Pig

The Best Kalua Pork Roast

If you’re looking to turn a standard Pork Shoulder or Butt Roast(above) into fall off the bone tender Kalua Pork(below), then you’ve come to the right place. You don’t have to dig a hole in the ground and wrap the roast in banana leaves or burlap, either. I’m going to show you a simple recipe that can be cooked right in the oven and the results are absolutely incredible.

How to make an Oven Roasted Kalua Pork Roast

This Kalua Pork Roast is unbelievably amazing. The secret lies in the slow and low method and only two ingredients that give it that authentic fire roasted flavor everyone just devours. Liquid Smoke and Hawaiian Salt is all you need to take your standard Pork Roast to the next level. Kosher Salt is the alternative if the other isn’t available to you but there are a ton of other benefits derived from the Hawaiian salt that most people don’t know about and you can read about it HERE. And believe it or not, it really does effect the flavor and in my opinion its easily twice the difference. I also like to add a sauce that I partially derived from my Mongolian Beef recipe and it is fantastic over the pork and rice. Also, Kalua Pork is usually served with Hawaiian Macaroni Salad and my recipe for that is below as well.

CLICK HERE for Mongolian Beef Recipe
CLICK HERE for Hawaiian Macaroni Salad

Kalua Pork Roast Ingredients:

1 10 lbs Pork Shoulder or Butt Roast
1 tbsp Liquid Smoke
1 tbsp Hawaiian or Kosher Salt (preferably Hawaiian)

Mongolian Sauce
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon Ginger, minced
1 tablespoon Garlic, chopped
2 tsp Hoisin Sauce (optional)
1/2 cup Soy Sauce
1/2 cup Water
1/2 cup Rice Wine Vinegar
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
1/4 cup Mirin

Be sure to watch the short video tutorial and I’ll show you exactly how to make this amazing Kalua Pork Roast.

You can also use this recipe to make my Kalua Pork Tamales, Kalua Pork Burritos and my Pulled Pork Fries.