Chicharon, chicharon… where art thou?
It’s not like I don’t have a chicharon entry in this blog. I do. An old one with with a lousy photo taken with a lousy cam phone. Last Sunday, though, despite plans to watch Die Hard 4 that went awry because the queues were just impossible, I took time out to take photos of the various kinds of chicharon from the same stall in front of the supermarket at Robinson’s Metro East. This time, I used a real camera — my husband’s.
See, it’s difficult to talk about the different kinds of chicharon without good illustrations. Besides, it’s kinda nice to drool over food photos. 
Chicharon means “crackling” traditionally eaten as a finger food with a dipping sauce made of vinegar, salt, chopped onions, garlic and chili peppers. Older generations knew it as pork cracklings (chicharong baboy) probably because the oldest and most common variety of chicharon is the kind made with pork rind. The rind is boiled in salted water until tender, dried under the sun then deep fried until puffy and crisp.
It may also be ground and sprinkled on food as in the case of pancit luglog. It can also replace sauteed pork in stews (try using chicharon in your mongo guisado).
But even chicharong baboy has sub-varieties. Some are made with pork rind only. Others — and this is the kind I really love — has a layer of fat underneath the rind. This layer of fat turns puffy and crisp too during deep frying.
Not as widely available but more highly-prized than the best cooked chicharong baboy is the chicharong bulaklak (below).
While you can get so much rind and fat from a single hog, you’ll get only one piece of omentum. Contrary to some claims, chicharon bulaklak is NOT made from pork intestines but from the omentum. Actually, there is a greater omentum (the fatty sac covering the small intestines) and lesser omentum (the organ that connects the stomach to the liver) and which one becomes chicharon bulaklak is something I still have to discover.
I used to be able to buy thoroughly cleaned omentum neatly packed in styrofoam trays from Robinson’s Supermarket but I haven’t cooked chicharon bulaklak at home in years. The cooking part is simple; it is finding good quality — and clean — omentum that is the bigger challenge.
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24 Responses to “Chicharon, chicharon… where art thou?”
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Like Tapsilog and Pakaplog, chicharon has come of age – they are now known by their nicknames: “Chibit” for Chicharon Bituka and “Chilak” for Chicharon Bulaklak. Check out the chicharon stand at Shopwise for the rest of the nicks. Ang saya!
Personally, what I can’t turn my back on is chicharong bulaklak.
mmmm… i love chicharong bulaklak. madalas magluto nyan ang lola ko nung bata pa kami. masarap yan iulam sa kanin. chicharong balat ng manok lang ang pwedeng kainin ng isang friend ko due to religious reasons. pero grabe naman kung makakain, parang wala ng bukas. hahaha!
yung bituka ng manok naman, ako palagi ang pinaglilinis ng bituka kapag nagpapatay kami ng manok. my dad showed us how to clean it. basically, you invert the intestine by pushing one end inward and then forward hanggang mabaligtad na. i would use a stick that’s thin enough to get through the tiny hole. oi, napakatrabaho nga lang so i dont know how they clean those big batches of intestines.
anyway, your photos always look so enticing. i swear i always end up cooking something after visiting your site. no wonder tumataba kami lahat dito sa bahay. haaay…
Who can resist chicharon especially the pork rind with meaty meat underneath the puffed skin with good spicy vinegar sawsawan? Only chcken feathers go to waste now to the whole chicken is edible! Way to go chicken!
Nice pics, Connie! Nakakagutom! I love chicharon baboy but we seldom have them at home due to health reasons.
oh i love all kinds/variety of chicharon! even when i was a kid, i had my share of experience in terms of selling ihaw-ihaw in the afternoon in front of our house! i even eat bituka ng manok too, i was allowed to eat only because my aunt prepares and cooks them and for us to sell after, so we know that it is cleaned properly! but one thing i remember is that after cleaning the chicken bituka, she would let it boil, throw the water out, let it boil again and repeat the same step a few times….
after seeing your photos, i am now wondering how can i get some chicharong bituka at the nearest filipino store knowing that they’ll be closed when i get off work today!
only in the Philippines:
Lapid’s Chicharon Drive Thru almost at the end of Shaw Blvd going to JRU- almost a clone of the one along white plains katipunan
Same great smelling, crunchy tasting, moment on your lips and a life lifetime on your hips experience.
Ay, I just ate some chicharon (the one with the fat layer) last night. Am hypertensive but can’t resist. Just made the excuse that I had lots of garden salad along with it. LOL.
hi, i love chicharon, i came from the visayas region and its one of our delicacies there.
anywaze, im a 1st time mom to be and its really hard to prepare a proper diet for me. can you recommend some quick meals for bfast, lunch and dinner? thanks so much.
The photos seem to reach out to me, Connie. Its like saying “Take me home, take me home!” LOL!
I can almost feel my head spinning and my nape hurting a bit. I don’t eat chicharon nowadays, not since my gall bladder was removed. But before that? We are chicharon fiend family, that variety that can be bought in Bohol with a bit of fat under the skin. Very tasty, very crunchy, very dangerous, very expensive. Php350/bag. The kids still love to eat chicharon though.
My mouth is watering! My favorite is chicharon bulalak which I dont know where to buy here in San Diego.
Thanks for the great photos! It makes me feel close to home kahit sa picture man lang!
Damn is all I can say. That is the most cholesterol, fat-laden and *delicious* tray of snacks I’ve ever seen
I’m now having a massive craving for crispy roasted pork (the only thing that comes close here…), but I’ve overindulged last week and it’ll only make me feel sick :/ People who are way too careful about fat in food (aside from those with medical issues) piss me off, lol. I believe in not depriving yourself as well as long as everything’s eaten in moderation. I didn’t deprive myself of much when I started my weight loss programme last year and I still managed to lose 7 kg.
Chicharon from Carcar in Cebu is also good. They have the regular and the special (with fat) with a whooping P500/kilo.
Ate Connie,
Ay nakakagutom naman! I’m drooling for Lapid’s Chicharon. Magkano kaya magpa-FedEx ng Chicaron? $45 ang minimum international. It’s not being OA but the chicharon around here doesn’t come close to what we have there in the Philippines. The last time I had them, a cousin who went to the home brought some back then sent it to me via postal mail. Pero kung galing sa Pilipinas via post office, makunat na pagdating dito. Buti nalang hindi ako naglilihi kung hindi I’ll spend for the FedEx.
Just had some chicharon with laman last night while having dinner. Crunchy chicharon with spicy suka! Panalo!
Hay…bakit ba ang sarap kainin ng bawal?
hayyy… ang tagal ng walang bagong post si Connie…. I hope you’re not sick, maybe just too busy…
been checking everyday for new post, and will always do.
take care
that is the ultimate low-carb treat!
it’s been years since i last ate chilak and chibits! your post is close to making me drool… my college friends and i used to drop by sta. lucia mall (on our way home) to eat chilak and chibits. it has become some sort of 30-min bonding activity for us… and everytime someone new would accompany us on the way home, we would ask them to try eating it with softee (soft ice cream).
a good side dish with chicharron is “pico de gallo” (rooster’s beak, but of course it has abosolutely nothing to do with a rooster’s beak). anyway, you’ll need diced red tomatoes, onions, sileng labuyo, cilantro, and avocado. sprinkle it with salt and mix. eat it with corn tortilla or even with flour tortilla. it’s very good. this is something i learned here in mexico. they dont eat the chicharron with rice. always with tortilla.
another way to eat chicharron too is with green or red salsa…that is if you like to eat soggy chicharron. you’ll need green or red tomatoes, jalapeno, garlic, onion, cilantro and salt. blend together, then pour into the pan, boil it with the chicharron until it becomes soft. serve with tortillas.
woooooooooooooowwwwwwwwwww!it’s been a century maybe that i didn’t eat chicharon.i will try to make it maybe this weekend although very difficult to find clean pork meat here in Lebanon. But the sooner or later i have to make it!! few fats to be earned? duh!no big deal just 3 hours ride in the treadmill. (OMG, say it again, 3 hours?)
What I want to know is how do you cook the chitcharon like what you have in the picture?
lgv, I didn’t cook them. It’s right there in the first paragraph of the entry.
bawal ang magkasakit! kaya lang…kasi naman…ang sarap! i really avoid this stuff now, probably a piece or two will do…para lang masabing nakatikim. pinoy food is so deliciously sinful no? i was at robinson’s last night and I just stared at the chicharon and it stared back at me. I won. hahahah!