chicharon

Chicharon is the preferred Filipino spelling for what the Spanish speakers call Chicharrón or Chicharrónes.

They’re crispy/crunchy pork rinds! The type that will kill you eventually if you keep eating more than 100 grams a day. At least dip the munchies in some vinegar, for crying out loud.

In native Tagalog orthography, the spelling would be tsitsaron, and you can still catch a couple of Filipinos here and there who have a hard time with the “foreign” ch- and ts- sounds that they simply say sitsaron, and even satsaron.

What can you do with chicharon?

First, well, you snack on these crackers when you’re bored. And they’re a cheap snack to have when drinking… in fact, they’re a delicious pulutan if you’re fortunate or moneyed enough to afford the rich variants still with meat on them, and not just the skin.

You mix them as an ingredient in Filipino dishes. Grind them up to use as toppings for noodle dishes like pancit palabok. And just to add something different to the usual rice and ulam combo, place a few to the side!

There you have it… Ways to increase your caloric, fat, and cholesterol consumption the delicious way!

Want to sort of temper the calories, fat and cholesterol? Try the “healthier” versions that use chicken and fish, instead of pork. Let’s see what deep-frying them in oil will do.