Chicharrón En Salsa Verde

Photo: Sergio Alvarez

Ingredients

1 Bag of dried pork rinds (known as "chicharron")

1 onion, minced

1 bouquet cilantro

2 Garlic Cloves, minced

16 ounces can or bottle of green or Tomatillo Salsa

1 tablespoon of Canola Oil

1 pinch of Salt

1 pound of Fresh Hand Made Tortillas

1 Serrano Chile minced (Optional)

Preparation

Add 1 tbsp of canola oil on a skillet on medium high heat; Add minced onion, sweat, and add garlic, then add your tomatillos wait till aromatic or till partly tender.

Reduce to medium heat and add the pork rinds and serrano chili (very hot) and cover.

Once the pork rinds are moist enough to be stirred , add cilantro and cook till the rinds are evenly coated and soft in consistency.

Make your tortillas or 'gorditas" and fill them with.

Provecho!

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About

This dish is considered a delicacy in all over Mexico, specially around the Central Area. If you've never tried it, you are missing a whole lot of flavor! although some people might not get over the gelatinous texture.

My first tip to get this dish right or close to the heavenly versions I've tried back home (Guadalajara) is to make sure to use HERDEZ green salsa brand. Ever since I came to the states I've tried a hole bunch of green salsas and they have all failed on coming close to the real deal! You can always try to make the green salsa yourself, but even I know that is uncertain territory when it comes to this dish, mainly because it depends solely on the spot-on flavor of the green salsa.

Where to find the beloved brand, even by mexican salsa snobs like me, it's the tricky part. I used to live in San Diego near an area called "Escondido" where you'll literally find, "Hidden" treasures of authentic Mexican gastronomy. Now I have moved on to the Emerald City of Seattle, where surprisingly enough, the Supply and Demand of Mexican Foods is quite impressive.

So if you happen to live in Seattle you might want to stop by 2 key places to get 4 key ingredients of this recipe:

HERDEZ green elixir.- For this you might want to stop by the Latin American Grocery Store at Pike Place Market, located on 1st and Pike Pl, specifically on the foot steps of Post Alley. There you will surely find the canned version of the green salsa and you might also be lucky enough to find Mexican Oregano.

Pork Rinds, Hand Made Tortillas and Mexican Spices.- This place was a recent find but I feel like I hit La Loteria! (mexican jackpot). "LA PROFECO" located in GreenWood has quite a variety of goods and treats. Here you'll want to get the freshly cooked pork rinds, cooked every night and let to dry on a glass heated box on the counter. Make sure to get any Mexican spice you know or have heard of. And even though I haven't tried their tortillas, I would probably bet my green card on them!

The great thins about this recipe is that even though you might not have the time or the energy to go on a grocery hunt for all this intriguing ingredients you can sure find a decent version of all 4 in your nearest grocery store (mine being QFC). The setting for this meal is a heated pot of "Chicharrones en Salsa Verde" on the table and a bunch of heated tortillas. The tortillas will be your canvas so make sure to have Bibs handy.

As we Mexicans say before a meal, PROVECHO!