On Pork rinds.....

   Pork rinds have many names including chicharrones, scratchings, cracklings, and cueritos. Its basically the same concept of fried pig skin the only thing that sets them apart from one another is the addition or exclusion of meat or fat. Pork rinds are a feature in almost every cuisine where pork is used. Often a by product of rendering lard, back in the days prior to the industrial revolution which made vegetable oils more accessible  and affordable, animal fats were the only way of obtaining  oil for cooking and it was very common in many peoples diet.
    In Nicaragua,where I'm from we take the pork belly or back and boil it for hours until it becomes tender; after which we fry it until it becomes crispy and golden brown. Unlike the american pork rinds  the ones you find in ''fritangas"(nicaraguan fry houses) serve the crispy skin with some meat attached to it. I grew up on these chicharrones, it was a sunday ritual at my moms house. She served the chicharrones with lime, tortilla and a pickled chili and onion condiment traditional to Nicaraguan cuisine.
     There are  many ways of making  these morsels  of crispy skin goodness. Its really not as complicated as it is made out to be. I have my way of making the pork rinds but ill share a much easier  method i learned while staging at Empellon Cocina. Basically you want to take pork skin and boil them for 3-4 hours. You want the pig skin to be nice and tender. After it has been boiled, place them on parchment paper lined sheet pans making sure to lay them flat. You want to cool your pork skins down until  the fat becomes solid again. At this point take them out and scrape as much fat as you can off the skins. Once the fat has been removed cut your pork skins into rough 2x2 inch squares doesn't need to be exact, it really depends on how big or small you want your finished product to be. Place your pork squares into a dehydrator 150F for 24 hours......if your like me and don't have a fancy dehydrator at your restaurant you can place them on a baking rack and dehydrate them in an oven at 190 degrees for 15 hours or untill the skins are dry and hard. Heres what they look like after the 15 hours.

    At this point you want to turn your fryer up to 400F. Throw a couple of squares of pork into the fryer, they will puff up instantly if they don't  your oil wasn't hot enough. The good thing about doing it this method is that you can save the pork skins in a air tight container for up to 5 days. Heres what they look like after they come out of the fryer. Its a perfect bar snack. Im currently breaking up the pork rinds into smaller bit and tossing them into a pork and plums salad I'm running on our current restaurant week menu.