Chicharrón en salsa verde (pork crackling in tomatillo sauce)

Ingredients

• 300 g chicharrón, thick-cut puffy Mexican style (prensa or de olla); broken into roughly 5 cm pieces
• For the salsa verde
• 500 g tomatillos, husked and rinsed
• 2–3 serrano or jalapeño chillies, stems removed; quantity to taste
• ½ white onion, roughly chopped
• 2 garlic cloves
• 10 g fresh coriander, leaves and tender stems
• 1 tbsp neutral oil
• 1 tsp fine salt, or to taste
• To serve
• 12 warm corn tortillas
• 1 white onion, finely chopped
• 2 limes, cut into wedges

Method

1. 1
   Combine the tomatillos, chillies, onion and garlic in a blender. Add the coriander and blend until smooth. Season with salt. The salsa should be vivid green and pourable — not watery, not paste-like.
2. 2
   Heat the oil in a wide, heavy saucepan over medium-high heat. Pour in the raw salsa verde and fry it, stirring constantly, for 3–4 minutes until it deepens slightly in colour, loses its raw edge, and the pan is fragrant with cooked tomatillo.
3. 3
   Add the chicharrón pieces to the hot salsa, folding them in to coat. This is where the dish lives or dies: simmer over medium heat for exactly 5–8 minutes — no more. The chicharrón pieces should soften and yield at the edges while still holding their shape; the salsa will visibly thicken as the chicharrón releases its gelatin. At 8 minutes, the pieces must still be identifiable and offer slight resistance when pressed with a spoon.
4. 4
   Taste and correct the salt. The sauce should be tangy, slightly spicy, and distinctly richer and more viscous than when it entered the pan — the gelatin body is the signal that the dish is ready.
5. 5
   Serve immediately in warm tortillas with chopped white onion and lime wedges alongside. The chicharrón continues to soften in residual heat; the window from pan to table is narrow.