Chicharron de barriga tastes like crispy fried bacon
Searching for a late night snack after a night out, I found myself at La Michoacana Meat Market # 10 at Gessner near the West Park Toll Road. Unfortunately, the kitchen was closing up when I walked in, so I couldn’t get a taco. I wandered over to the meat counter in the back of the store to see what they had ready to eat. There were a lot of chicharrones, but not much else.
As I have complained here before, I love the bacon-like chicharrones you get in the carnicerias of Monterrey, Mexico, but I hate the crumbly fat puffs that pass for chicharrones around here. I was about to give up and go get some fried chicken, when I noticed the bin that said “chicharron de barriga.” It looked a lot meatier than the other kind, so I asked for a tiny sample. It turned out to be a meaty, bacon-flavored fried pork strip of exactly the kind I’ve been looking for.
“What does barriga mean?” I asked the butcher. He turned sideways to show me his profile and patted his belly. I took my pork belly chicharon home and nuked it briefly, which crisped the whole thing up. I dipped it in Arriba red salsa as I ate it and washed it down with a cold beer.
¡Que rico! – Robb Walsh
La Michoacana Meat Market # 10
6036 South Gessner
What do you have when their are no Chicharrones and you have the jones.
Pig skins in a bag from the grocery?
Posted at: January 15, 2008 2:42 PM