No Way Jose Cuisine

For regions like mine (North of Tamaulipas, Mex), Chicharrones are anything fried in a big cazo with lard. The most popular chicharrones are Bofe (beef lungs), Tripas (intestines), pork belly, and beef (rendering fat). But there is a wide variety of chicharrones in Mexico, and they are prepared differently everywhere. The bad thing about Tripa, is that it shrinks a lot, but at least is affordable. The cazo is from my friends at cemcui.com use the code NOWAYJOSE at the checkout for a discount. 

Chicharrones de Tripa

In a clean skink, clean the tripe with water, fill it up like a water hose, and drain it.

Put it in a bowl with water, and add 2-4 tbsp of white vinegar; let it soak for 10-15 minutes, rinse it off again and fill it up then drain it, and squeeze most of the water.

Cut it into strips of 20-30 cm, and in a bowl, season with salt; I added about 4 tbsp to the 6 lbs, add the allspice and bay leaves, and let it rest.

Add the lard in the cazo on high heat and let it get very hot.

Drain any water in the tripe again, and using an oil splatter guard, add the tripe to the lard, lard won’t splat like oil immediately with liquid, and the temperature is not as high as the oil, but still, for safety, I recommend you use the guard. 

The tripe will look as if it was boiling, and when it starts bubbling, add the garlic and onion; cook for about 30 minutes, then take it out in a bowl.

and with a strainer, remove all the stuff in the lard, let it get very hot and add back the tripa, cook until golden brown and it’s done. 

Chicharrones de tripa are chewy, not crispy. If you prefer, boil the tripe with the spices for 30 min, drain it, let it air dry, and cool down to fry it in the hot lard. This would make it less chewy and a little crispy on the outside. I suggest eating it in a corn tortilla taco with queso fresco, onions, cilantro, and salsa.

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