Let me get this straight, it is confusing – lard, lardon, pork crackling, crunchy pork fats? Here is what they stand for; lard is the liquid fats of animal fats, lardon is a cube or strip of pork fats, pork crackling has the same meaning as crunchy pork fats, and they both means rendered pork lardon that is crispy and crunchy.
Why the variation of the terms? Well, it is just most local Malaysian would call them pork crackling or crunchy pork fats, but I will have to briefly clarify this, so if you are not from Malaysia could understand the context I am about to explain next.
Homemade Pork Lardon that does not stench but stays crunchy? Read on!
Often I heard from people saying that the lardon they made has some weird smell, somewhat stench very quickly. Well, in how to make a lardon guide, I will be sharing how my dad’s Chef Keong used to render his lardon as well as making crunchy pork crackling that his customer absolutely loves them!
Well back in the days when my dad still running his restaurant, very often guests will come walking to the kitchen with a bowl on their hands, a little shy-ish, and would say, “Hey, can I have some pork crackling?”
I was not knowing why do they like our pork crackling so much. As time passes, I come to notice that indeed many out there are not making this simple pork lard right.
Secrets to Making the Best Lardon and Pork Crackling!
To render a good lardon, you will need good quality fats, be it pork, chicken, beef, or any other animal fats. The selection of parts of fats is actually rather important. There are always two types of fats;
- One type does not melt away when you render them
- The other type where most of it will melt away when we render them.
If the wrong part of fats is used, the lard will end up looking bad, reduces in size, and lastly, they do stench. Below is a picture to briefly illustrate the type of fats.
Best Method in Rendering Lardon for Best Pork Lard
After all these years of tasting, testing, and observing, the best method to render pork fat which will give you aromatic pork lard, as well as crunchy pork lardon, is;
- Select the right part of fats,
- Blanch them to remove the stench also to keep them in shape,
- Cut them into cubes,
- Render them until you fully remove all the water content,
- Add some aromatic root vegetables.
Check out the recipe below to find out what root vegetables to add!
作者想说
猪肉猪油在中国烹饪中的应用已经有很多年了。在中国传统美食中，猪油是常用的油脂之一。即使在现在的中国，几乎家家户户户都能轻易找到猪油。猪猪油的辛辣香味，勾起了很多人的回忆，猪肉猪油拌白米饭、猪油拌面、猪油盘子、猪油拌面，简单而又好吃。如此简单，却又如此美味。但是，不是每个人都知道，要想做出好吃的猪油拌白米饭，保持一个月也不会发臭，最重要的秘诀就是猪油脆脆的猪油酥！下面是我爸爸做的猪油拌白米饭的做法。以下是我爸爸的制作方法，今天就和大家分享一下!
自做完美猪油和脆脆的猪油渣
配料
- 500 克 猪油
- 2 块 姜 （皮一起被压碎）
这是一篇免费的文章
我必须投放广告
步骤
- 清洗并修剪掉脂肪上的肉质。
- 氽烫5分钟后，再将猪肉的脂肪放入锅中。
- 将焯过的猪油冲洗干净，直到可以用手处理。
- 将猪油切成1厘米的方块。
- 用煎锅，用大火煎炸猪肉油。
- 偶尔搅拌一下，防止烫伤。
- 当脂肪开始乳化成猪油时，加入碎生姜。
- 当脂肪开始变成棕色时，将火力降至小火，再将其转为小火。
- 继续翻炒，直到猪油完全变成金黄色，猪油不再起泡。
- 如果你有剩余的猪油，请在此步骤中加入。
- 否则跳过，转到步骤（12）。
- 关火，将生姜去掉。
- 将猪肉猪油与脂肪饼干一起放入容器中，与脂肪饼干一起放入容器中。
Hi Ethan,
When I used belly fat I got nice crunchy cracklings. However, when I used kidney fat the cracklings were soft, hardly crunchy. Is belly fat more suitable to achieve crunchy cracklings, or did I do something wrong? And what about kidney fat? Is that a good type of fat for crunchy cracklings?
Thanks!
Regarding the last question of my previous comment: I meant back fat instead of kidney fat.
My apologies, I meant back fat instead of kidney fat in my last question in my previous post.
Hi Fred,
Yes, belly fats are the most suitable fats to make crunchy cracklings.
If you observe in detail, there are two types of fats, if you scroll up and look at the picture of the two fats I attached, one type is soft of denser and the other type is sort of softer.
The denser type of fats is more suitable for crunchy cracklings.
The softer type will, like what u say become soft and not crunchy at all.
The softer type of fats is the type of fats used for ramen broth, cause the fats will dissolve.
Hope this explanation is not too technical and could help u out.
Ethan
Thanks, Ethan. From now on I will use only belly fat if I need to make crunchy cracklings. Kidney fat won’t work (I tried a second time, again unsuccesful).
Apart from belly fat and kidney fat, there’s a third type of pork fat. It’s back fat. Not sure how this type of fat will perform in making crunchy cracklings though. But from what I understand from your article: if this back fat is a softer type of fat like in your picture on the right side, it won’t do a good job in making crunchy cracklings.
Hey Fred,
sorry for the late reply, back fat should be okay.
They are the type of fats that I showed in my article.
Thanks, Ethan. Final conclusion: pork belly fat and pork back fat are both okay for crunchy cracklings. Kidney fat is not okay. This is very useful information, since I haven’t found this anywhere else on the internet.
I am glad that this article helps you out.
Yes, indeed, no one has written an article on the part of fats to use.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year Fred!
Wishing you a great 2021 ahead!