We had this traditional tapa in Cádiz at Arte Puro (de Taberna Casa Manteca) and I was immediately taken with it: tender slices of pork belly seasoned with spices including pimentón, garnished with olive oil, lime, and salt, and served barely cool. They were surprising refreshing, great on a hot day.
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Sliced thinly, dressed with olive oil, coarse salt, lime |
We found some in Barcelona at El Corte Inglés "Gourmet Club", but they were a pale imitation: a bit dry, not terribly flavorful -- I wouldn't have been so interested if these were the only ones I'd tasted.
I had to figure out how to make them at home! Feel free to skip to the Approach or the Recipe, or follow along.
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In Cadíz: moist and delicious! |
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Dull from El Corte Inglés, oddly with coriander, cumin, vinegar |
Research
There are so many variations, which just points to the fact that this is a very old and common dish, and everyone makes it their own way.
General
Chicharrones de Cádiz: cómo son y dónde comerlos mentions two places we went, including the place we ate these, but doesn't provide a recipe or technique. These are pieces of pork belly [panceta], a "marbled" area of the pork that alternates layers of meat with fat. This gives the pieces a special succulence. Butchers call them "pear belly" because of their shape, which is reminiscent of the fruit.
Chicharrones de Cádiz talks about the prep in general. Iberian pork belly has a better mix of fat and a more intense flavor than regular pork belly. They use white lard (manteca) for cooking, seasoned with garlic, oregano, paprika, salt, and other optional seasonings. Substituting Olive Oil for the Lard may result in a different result in terms of texture and flavor, but it is still a valid option for those who prefer a less traditional cooking method. Another modern adaptation of the recipe involves adding lemon and peppers to the pork rinds during preparation, adding a citrusy and slightly spicy touch that further enhances their flavor.
Cooked in Manteca, Sometimes Boiled First
Chicharrones loncheados de Cádiz cooks the panceta an hour in manteca seasoned with salt, garlic, oregano, and pimentón.
Chicharrones especiales o chicharrones de Cádiz is similar to the previous, using pear-shaped ("pera") panceta. They do not use pimentón, and cook in "pella de cerdo" (pork rind) or white lard.
Receta de Chicharrones de Cádiz caseros adds "laurel" (bay leaves) and black pepper, and starts cooking in water about 30 minutes until it evaporates, then cooks the panceta in its own fat with the seasonings for another hour, then further cooks it in reduced wine and seasonings. This one sounds interesting, but unnecessarily complex.
Two videos I've seen saute garlic in oil then brown the panceta on both sides, then add white wine, bay, salt, then cover with water and simmer 30 minutes. This one then fries in manteca to brown, but uses a huge amount of manteca to do it; oddly, there's no pimentón. Another cooks only in seasoned manteca for 90 minutes, but it looks a bit more dry and shreddy than I'd like.
Dry- or Paste-Seasoned then Baked
Receta de chicharrón de Cádiz casero coats the panceta with a paste of garlic, oregano, pimentón, and salt with a bit of olive oil, then bakes at 200C for up to an hour, basting in the fat it releases. This certainly saves on having a liter of manteca.
This
"short" looks super-simple: a 3-hour marinade in oil and spices then bake at 200C until crunchy. It seems similar to the previous one.
Dry Rub then Sous Vide
Anova's Chicharrones de Cádiz uses sous vide, which allows us to reduce the lard to just enough for flavoring. He cooks at 60C for 30 hours (!) with the lard and spices, then sears to brown before slicing. The article's in English and the author is originally from Madrid, so I'm giving some him credit for authenticity.
Approach
I did a flavor trial with a spice mix of Salt, minced Garlic, Oregano, Pimentón, and a couple fresh Bay leaves coating a pork tenderloin. I cooked it sous vide for an hour at 58C, then finished on the BBQ. The flavor was good, if a bit timid; the Pimentón was welcome and I was really fond of the Bay.
Boiling in water is about the last thing I'd want to do with meat -- too much flavor loss, no flavor gain; if the goal is to cook through, just do it in tasty Manteca. It seems to me that flavoring a pot of Manteca with seasonings isn't going to impart much flavor to the meat, even if it's the most traditional method. A dry rub/cure or paste, followed by baking, seems like it would retain all the flavor and give a bit of crunch, but it obviates the Manteca flavoring. Searing in Manteca after cooking might burn any spice coating, so watch out for that.
The Anova Sous Vide recipe seems a good compromise: the dry rub is like the baked recipes above, but adding chunks of Manteca for traditional flavor; the final sear in Manteca should give it an appealing crust, hopefully without burning any spices. I could also try blooming the spices in hot Manteca then painting that onto the Panceta before cooking sous vide, it's one extra small step.
Recipe
I got a 750 g piece of Iberian Panceta from
Xarcuteria Neus in our Mercat de Sant Antoni and had them remove the skin; it was 14€/Kg. Irene has tubs of
Manteca, because she's Irene. I'm cutting the Anova sous vide recipe in half here, but keeping his original quantity of Bay and Pimentón because I love those flavors.
750 g Iberian Panceta, skin removed
0.7 g Oregano, dried (1 Tbs)
10 g Salt (2 tsp)
5.6 g Pimentón Dulce (1 Tbs)
4 leaves Bay, fresh
45 g White Manteca, cut in chunks
?? g White Manteca, for searing, if needed
Lemon juice, fresh, for garnish
Coarse Salt, for garnish
Extra Virgin Olive Oil, for garnish
Heat a sous vide water bath to 60C.
Combine the Oregano, Salt, Pimentón.
Mix in the minced Garlic and smear into a dry paste.
Spread a large sheet of plastic film and lay the Panceta on top.
Rub spices into both sides of the Panceta as evenly as possible; it's difficult because this isn't quite a dry rub nor a smooth spreadable paste.
Lay on the Bay leaves and Manteca chunks, again on both sides.
(Maybe these, except for the Manteca, could all be blitzed in a spice grinder?)
Wrap the plastic film tightly around the Panceta.
Seal in a sous vide bag and cook 30 (!) hours at 60C.
Remove from bag and dry with paper towel.
Save the tasty liquid and fat from the bag, we used it to serve black-eyed peas as a side dish.
Score the fat to allow rendering than sear slowly in skillet, fat-side down, with a little more Manteca until appealingly golden; flip and sear the meaty side just a little, don't overcook it. We probably didn't need the Manteca here since the fat rendered quite easily.
Chill well, then slice as thinly; I was able to get about 2mm slices but a meat slicer would give even more tender 1mm slices.
Plate and garnish with coarse Salt, a squeeze of Lemon, and some good Olive Oil.
I used Lime, but Lemon would be more harmonious.