Cuchifrito with Preserved Lemon Salsa | Recipe

I just adore these crispy, golden pieces of heaven. The word cuchifrito comes from ‘fried pig’, and it’s traditionally made with suckling pigs – in my area in Spain, we eat them when they are as young as 21 days old. I sometimes make it with pork belly instead, as that’s much easier to source. I’m not sure if my mum would agree with me regarding the lemon salsa, but I know she loves to serve this with a simple tomato salad, dressed with extra virgin olive oil and a really punchy vinegar. My favourite is a good sherry reserve vinegar, but if not, a decent red wine vinegar will do. 

Ingredients

• 2.25kg thin end of pork belly (without bones, but with cartilage), cut into 3-cm chunks
• 6 fat garlic cloves
• large handful of flat-leaf parsley 200ml (scant 1 cup) olive oil
• good grinding of black pepper
• 150ml (scant 2/3 cup) white wine vinegar
• 1litre (4 cups) mild-flavoured olive oil, for deep-frying 
• sea salt and freshly ground
• black pepper 

Preserved Lemon Salsa

• juice of 1 lemon
• 3 preserved lemons, rinds finely chopped
• 5 tablespoons capers (baby capers), chopped
• 35g flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
• 20g fresh oregano, finely chopped 
• 20g mint, finely chopped
• 1 green chilli, finely diced 
• 150ml (scant 2/3  cup) extra virgin olive oil 

Serves: 6
Time: 2 hours, plus overnight marinating

Method

Put the pork belly chunks in a large dish. Mash the garlic with a pestle and mortar and add to the dish, along with the parsley, olive oil, pepper and vinegar. Mix well, then cover and leave to marinate overnight in the fridge. 

The next day, preheat the oven to 170°C/150°C fan/gas 3½. Transfer the pork belly chunks and their marinade to a roasting tin (pan), then cover with kitchen foil and roast for 1½ hours. 

Meanwhile, make the salsa. Simply mix all the ingredients together in a bowl, then season well and set aside. 

Once the pork has finished roasting, pour the oil for deep-frying into a deep pan over a medium-high heat and preheat to 170°C. If you don’t have a thermometer, drop a small cube of bread in the oil – it will brown in about 25–30 seconds when the oil is hot enough. Drain the meat, then, working in batches, fry for 5–6 minutes until the pieces are really golden and crisp. Drain on plate lined with paper towels, then season with salt and pepper. Once all the meat has been fried, serve with the salsa.

Tip: You can order suckling pig online or speak to your local butcher if you want to try this recipe with the real deal.