We are living in the Trending Age of the classy Pork Rind. The ultimate redneck snack has undergone a makeover. What was once seen as counterculture cuisine, something you'd pick up at a gas station along with PBR & Skoal, you can now find in high-falutin’ pantries across the country. Rendered from fried hog skin, pork rinds have suffered a dismal image in the past never quite garnering the respect of other, arguably more reputable junk foods. While it has long been popular in the South, where we eat anything but the oink, it has had a bad nutritional reputation in other parts of the world.
When the gluten-free, high protein, low-carb crowd discovered that pork rinds were not only diet-friendly but also quite tasty, this once-humble food started to gain some mainstream snack cred. And as soon as chefs and their paleo posse realized that pork rinds could be rebranded using their more exotic, south-of-the-border alias of "chicharrones," they were suddenly considered to be good enough for menus at some pretty fancy-schmancy restaurants.
No matter what name you call them by, whether it be pork rinds, crackling, chicharrones, or grattons, they are still the same yummy fried hunks o' fatty pig skin we've all secretly known and loved since way before they came out of the snack closet. You couldn't expect the hottest food trend of the past decade “Organic” to bypass the pork rind, now could you? So naturally, the two trends met and you can now have your pick of organic, sustainable, free-range pork rinds from pigs who expired peacefully after a lifetime on a bucolic farm eating pastoral oats. But wait for it…pork rinds without the pork? Have you lost your cotton pickin’ mind? Yep, you can now get vegan porkless rinds, too.
This pork rind okra is about as southern as chicken gizzards and fried green tomatoes. The okra is tender and pork rinds so light; you don’t even need to put in your good teeth, but you may want to spit out that chewing tobacco first. Remember, you can take the girl out of the south, but her heart (and sometimes her home) will always follow.
Ingredients
2 cups fresh okra
1 egg
2 Tbls water
1/2 cup almond flour
1/2 cup pork rinds
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 stick grass-fed butter, or 1/2 cup ghee for frying
Directions
Wash and cut okra in half. Set up a breading assembly line. In a medium-sized bowl, mix egg and water together. Place 10-15 pork rinds into a food processor or blender. Pulse until rinds reach a fine texture. This should be close to a 1/2 cup, but measure to be sure. If you are short, add more rinds to the processor and continue to pulse. Mix ground pork rinds, almond flour and seasoning into a shallow dish. Heat non-stick skillet with a couple of slices of butter. Dip about 15 okra slices into egg mixture, coat and remove with a slotted spoon. Place okra into pork rind/almond flour batter. Coat thoroughly. Once butter is completely melted, gently place coated okra into the pan. Fry for approximately 3 minutes until golden brown. Flip and fry for another 3 minutes. Remove from pan and place on a couple of paper towels to soak up any excess grease. Continue to add more slices of butter into the pan. You don’t want a dry skillet bottom or the okra will burn. Repeat “breading” process until all okra is fried up!
