Peter Sherman, owner and head chef of BarBacon in New York City, finds versatile uses for crispy chicharrones.
Secret Ingredient: Chicharrones, fried pig skin. They are supremely crunchy and light while maintaining a clear pork flavor.
How To Use It: As a chef, being able to introduce flavor without having to add a lot of weight to the dish opens a lot of doors. Along with substituting tortilla chips with them for our nachos and guacamole sides, we crumble them over a great many dishes to enhance pork flavor while providing texture. We crumble them over a bacon ice cream, which has a pork “Pop Rocks” reaction that customers flip over when the dessert drops at their table snapping and cracking while they eat it. It is an enhanced tortilla chip option, a finishing salt, and a better bread crumb, all while having shelf life stability and [needing] no refrigeration.