Chicharrones – Dominican Fried Pork Belly with Yuca and Onion Relish
Chicharrones are one of the most delicious fried foods we have in the Dominican Republic. The crispy skin, the tender fat and meat right underneath make it absolutely addicting! It’s heaven in every bite! If anyone knows, it is me! When I start, I cannot stop!
In Dominican Republic, we serve them in long strips, chopped up in chunks, with traditional sides. In this case, I chose to serve with one of our most popular sides, boiled yuca and our delicious tangy onion relish. You can also serve with fried green plantains (tostones) or rice and beans. You can’t go wrong with any of these sides!
One important thing to note: these chicharrones love to go a little crazy when they fry, splatter is inevitable so make sure you have the pork belly covered while you fry it, use long tongs, approach carefully when turning and removing them from the pan.
So let’s go ahead and make this!
Chicharrones – Dominican Fried Pork Belly with Yuca and Onion Relish
Ingredients
For the pork belly
- 8 slices pork belly
- 2 tbsp ground oregano
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp ground black pepper
- 1/4 cup lime juice
- Mazola corn oil for frying 2 inches in depth
Yuca
- 3 lbs frozen Goya yuca or 6 large yuca roots, peleed, cut into chunks
- 1 tsp salt
Onion Relish
- 2 large red onions sliced in desired thickness
- 1/4 cup Mazola corn oil
- 2 tbsp white vinegar
Instructions
- In a deep pot, add enough water to cover all the pork belly slices. Bring to a slight boil.
- Add pork belly, the seasoning and bring to a boil. Cook for about 25 minutes or until the skin can be penetrated easily with a fork.
- Once the pork is tender, remove from pot and set on a paper towel lined plate for about 10 minutes to cool down and drain some.
- In the meantime, cook the yuca as Goya package directs. (Boil water, add salt, cook 30 minutes.)
- While yuca water comes to a boil, slice the red onions.
- Place the onions in a microwavable bowl.
- Add oil and white vinegar. Mix well.
- Microwave for 3 minutes and then at 1 minute intervals until desired onion tenderness is reached. Set aside.
- In a large and deep nonstick frying pan, heat oil over medium high heat.
- Once oil is hot, add the pork slowly, one at a time. Have a lid over the skillet as it will absolutely splatter.
- Fry until you see it's getting a light golden color at the bottom. This will literally be a couple of minutes.
- Turn pieces over carefully. It will be splattering the entire time.
- Remember that the pork is already cooked. All you need to do is make the outside crunchy and golden.
- Once golden, set aside on a paper lined plate and allow to cool down a bit.
Hi the recipe is missing the frying instructions. It stops at boiling.
Thank you so much Rob for bringing this to my attention. I can’t believe I didn’t notice! I appreciate you letting me know. 🙂
Amazing
Thank you!
Wepa! Perfection! This speaks to my little Dominican heart. Absolutely delicious!
Side note: I keep trying to give you 5/5 stars but the mobile site only lets me give you four for some reason. Nothing happens when I click the 5th star. ☹️ I’m sorry!
No worries! I am happy with the 4! What matters most is that you liked it. Thank you so much for writing a review. It is so appreciated!