Pork rind

Pork rind is the culinary term for the skin of a pig, which can be rendered, fried in fat, baked or roasted. The result is called pork cracklings in the United States and crackling or scratchings in the United Kingdom, and it is served in small pieces as a snack, a side dish or an appetizer, or used as a coating. Frying renders much of the fat and shrinks the skin. Rinds are often a byproduct of rendering lard, which made the tough skin edible. Large-scale commercial rinds start as frozen, dried pellets that are rehydrated in flavored water, fried in hot pork fat until they expand about five times in size, then flavored and air-dried. Pickled rinds are eaten cold and have a soft, buttery texture. Regional forms include torresmo in Brazil, chicharrones in Colombia and Mexico, scrunchions in Newfoundland and cueritos in Mexico.