Chicharrón de Pollo

Ingredients

• 1 kg bone-in chicken thighs, chopped into small pieces
• juice of 2 limes
• juice of 1 bitter orange, or 1 orange
• 6 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 tbsp dried oregano
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp black pepper
• 120 g plain flour
• 40 g cornflour
• 800 ml vegetable oil, for frying

Method

1. Chop small, bone in

   Have the thighs chopped through the bone into pieces the size of a walnut. The bone is what makes it chicharrón rather than nuggets — it keeps the meat moist through a hard fry and it is half the pleasure to gnaw.

2. Marinate

   Mix everything except the flours and oil and leave the chicken in the fridge for at least two hours, or overnight. Soy sauce is not an intruder here — it is standard in Dominican kitchens and it is what browns the crust so darkly.

   2 h

3. Dredge, do not batter

   Toss the drained pieces in the flour and cornflour until barely coated and shake off the excess. A thick coating goes soggy against the marinade; the cornflour is there to keep it brittle.

4. Fry at 175°C in batches

   Fry for seven or eight minutes a batch, until dark golden and cooked through to the bone. Crowding drops the oil temperature and steams the crust off, so give the pieces room.

   8 min

5. Drain standing up

   Drain on a rack, not on paper — paper traps steam under the pieces and softens the underside. Serve with tostones and lime.