[french fries]

Today at the asian store I noticed some pork chops with skin on. And obviously a good 1/2" to 3/4" fat layer between the skin and the meat. 

I'm really tempted.. but I'm not really sure what to do with them? 

 

[chefedb]

To cook with an 8th or 1/4 inch is passable but more would be unexceptable for  food service. home you can do whatever you like.  If you are roasting a whole loin of pork 1/2 inch would be ok and trim after cooking for added flavor.

 

[boar_d_laze]

Home or restaurant, the challenge is crisping the skin and cooking the fat to delicousness without overcooking the meat.  Crisp pork skin is magic; and so is well-cooked fat -- trebly so within the context of many Asian cuisines.

I can think of several approaches which would work, including smoking, a hot outdoor grill, a very hot oven, and a very slow one.  I'd also consider hitting the skin and fat with boiling water before cooking, then "lacquering" the skin ala Beijing duck; or my "barbecue variant" of a quick dip in boiling, seasoned brine (with lots of onion and fruit).   

And, no matter how I cooked the chops, I'd have my torch standing by to finish the skin... just in case.  

Obviously, you're not cooking for a restaurant.  But on that topic, I strongly disagree with Ed at least insofar as "fine dining" or any other setting where envelope pushing is part of the fun.  If we're talking volume, cafeteria, the "early bird" or the "senior special," no conflict -- but those restrictions are as obvious as keeping it off the menu at a kosher dairy restaurant.

BDL

 

[chefedb]

The older clientelwe get here in Florida  are extremely fat concerned , They think they will live longer and don't rewally want any. Can't count how many times wa got a steak sent back telling us TRIM THE FAT. Normaly I woud say BDL is right  but  Worth Ave and the  Palm Beaches are another world  Like Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. My stepson works in Mastros which is a steak house there and he tells me the same things.

 

[french fries]

Thanks guys!!

I've been to Mastros, it's a very classic, very conservative steak house. It's good, but nothing new, nothing modern, just your big seafood platter as an app, then your big $50 T-Bone or Rib Eye, or $90 48oz porterhouse for two, with a choice of 5 sauces, and your chocolate brownie a la mode as a dessert. 

But go to newer restaurants, the ones with the newer chefs, for example Ink from the Voltaggio kid from Top Chef, and you're more likely to find a dish of pork fat, or at least a dish with a LOT of pork fat. Really trendy around here. 

Anyway today I bought some pork belly with skin on, and I'm going to try and make crackers in a skillet with the skin, we'll see what happens? I love experimenting.

 

[butzy]

We normally get pork chops with the skin on.

We cut the through the skin every 2 cm or so, so the chop stays flat when cooking it and we finish it of by standing the chop on the skin side to make it crispy.

If you would have a whole piece of belly pork with the skin on, I would score it and season inside the cuts you've made, not on the rind. Rub the rind with a bit of course salt and cook in the oven with a drip tray underneath (rind side up). Cook it for an hour or 2 and you get a very crispy skin and very tender pork

 

[french fries]

Thanks Butzy, 

I worked with sliced pork belly (about 1/2" thick slices). Today I cut the rind+fat layer out to make a braised pork belly dish, so I'm left with just the rind and about 1/2" of fat attached to them. I'm not too sure how to go about turning those into cracklings. I'll look around the internet but if you (or anyone else) has any ideas, I'm all ears. 

 

[butzy]

Just put some salt on the rind and try the microwave. Works like a dream

Alternatively, roast them in the oven same as I described above.

We quite often do a whole pig on a spit and finish the skin parts that didn't crackle (?) enough in either the oven or the microwave. Love the stuff !!! 

 

[chefedb]

Microwave will work by dehydration of all liquid content, and its quick ansd not bad I tried it once a while back on reccomendation.

 

[french fries]

Thanks Ed, I do not own a microwave though. I have a gas range and a gas grill...?