Chicharrones

Category: File - :ChicharronMote.JPG|thumb|right|Chicharrón from Huaraz, Región Ancash, Peru

Chicharrón is a dish made of fried pork rinds. It is sometimes made from chicken, mutton, or beef.

Chicharrón is popular in Andalusia, Spain, and in Latin America is part of the traditional cuisines of Argentina, Belize, 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. In Argentina with beef.

The pork rind type is the skin of the pork after it has been seasoned and deep fried. In Mexico they are eaten in a taco or gordita with salsa verde. In Latin America they are eaten alone as a snack, with cachapas, as a stuffing in arepas or pupusas, or as the meat portion of various stews and soups.

- In central Venezuela, chicharróns are commonly sold alongside main highways as snacks. The recipe usually produces crispy sizeable portions of pork skin with the underlying meat.

- chicharróns 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. Chicharrón 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.

- 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.

- chicharróns 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 my be cayenne pepper. Pork chicharrón is usually mashed and stuffed into mofongo.

- tsitsaron, as it is spelled in Filipino (chicharrón is now an acceptable variant term, a derivative of the Spanish word chicharrón) is usually eaten with vinegar or with bagoong, lechon liver sauce, or pickled papaya called atchara. Tsitsarong manok, made from chicken skin, is also popular.

- 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.

- chicharróns, 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.

- chicharróns are usually made from pig skin. It is usually sold alone in plastic bags as a snack food item to be eaten on its own. In New Mexico it is often taken to mean just fried pork fat, sometimes with incidental bits of lean meat.

Tostones (from the Spanish verb tostar which means "to toast"[http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/toast]), also called Patacones, are a side dish that is popular in many Latin American countries. The dish is made from sliced green (unripe) plantains which are cut either length-wise or width-wise and are twice friedCuban Tostones recipe. The slices of plantains are fried for 1-2 minutes on each side until they are golden in colour and removed, then patted for excess oil. Afterwards, they are pounded flat with a utensil made the task called a "tostonera," or any kitchen utensil that has a large enough flat surface. The plantains are then fried once again until they are crisp and golden brown.

Tostones are salted and eaten much like potato chips/crisps or French fries/chips. In some regions it is customary to dip them in mojo (a garlic sauce). In some countries, they are served topped with cheese as an appetizer. They can also be bought pre-made from supermarkets. This food is found in all varieties of Caribbean cuisine. Tostones are also a staple of Latin American countries and the Caribbean, including Cuba, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, the north coast of Honduras, and Haiti (where they are known an banan peze and are often served with the traditional Haitian griot (fried pork) or pikliz - a pickled hot pepper mix). The dish is known as Patacones in Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela, Colombia, Panama and Costa Rica. They can also be found in West African cuisine, where they are referred to as plantain crisps. In Nicaragua, Honduras, Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic it is known under the name Tostones.

Breadfruit can also be made into tostones. The procedure is much the same, except the breadfruit has its green outer layer cut off, then the remainder is sliced inward in pieces no more than 1 inch - 2.5 cm. - thick. In the northern region of Colombia, patacones are made from unripe bananas too, giving them a lighter, sweeter flavor.