Chicharron en salsa roja is a very delicious homemade Mexican dish made with pork crackling simmered in a spicy red sauce, so simple to prepare and also budget-friendly.
Place the tomatoes and chillies in a pot. Cover with water and boil until the chillies are soft and the tomatoes begin to peel (about 10 minutes).
Let tomatoes and chillies to cool for 5 minutes and then transfer to a blender. Add two or three cups of the cooking water, the onion and the garlic. Blend for 10 seconds or more (SEE NOTES).
In a saucepan, heat the pork lard over medium heat. Add the sauce that you just prepared and a pinch of salt. Mix and cook for 5 minutes.
When the sauce starts to simmer, add the pork cracklings then with a spoon push them down so that they begin to soak up the sauce.
Simmer for 15-20 minutes with the pan covered, always checking that there is a little sauce and the cracklings do not dry out (see video).
When the sauce has thickened and chicharrones are soft, adjust salt to taste, turn off the heat and let chicharrones en salsa roja sit for 10 minutes before serving.
Notes
If you don’t want the red sauce to be too spicy, you can use less chillies peppers or use other types to add color; for example guajillo or pasilla.
The consistency of the sauce depends on how much you blend it. If you want a very smooth sauce, just blend it for a bit longer.
You can also use a minipimer and blend the sauce directly in the pot where you cooked the tomatoes.
The type of pork cracklings that I have used absorbs a lot of liquid, which is why I have added more water to the sauce. You can also add chicken bouillon if you want.
Pork crackling I used are normally salty so you don’t need to add a lot of salt. Always adjust the salt only at the end of cooking, about 2 minutes before turning off the heat.
You can prepare the sauce without cooking the chilies and tomatoes beforehand. Just add everything raw to the blender and then cook the sauce for 5 minutes longer before adding the cracklings.
Nutrition Information
Serving: 1grams
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