Do you ever have a bunch of random chicken skins hanging out in the fridge/freezer? I always buy skin-on chicken but a lot of the time I’ll end up using the chicken and having leftover chicken skins. I’ll either pan-fry them up or if I’m feeling particularly wicked, I’ll deep fry them up into a chicken version of that puffy pork skin favourite: chicharrón.
I didn’t grow up eating pork rinds, in fact I didn’t even know what those bags at the grocery store full of styrofoam-looking puffs were. After cooking through the Momof*cku book, I realized they were pig skin, dehydrated and puffed up into airy, crisp skin snacks.
Making chicharrón is a pretty simple process: skin is boiled, dehydrated then deep-fried. It sounds incredibly unhealthy, but pork rinds can actually be described by a lot of health buzzwords: no carb, gluten-free, and paleo.
It’s a little magical, how the dry skins puff up after a bit of gentle chopstick action. Deep-fried, salty and crunchy, these are ideal paired with beer on a crispy fall night.
Chicka-rones: Deep-Fried Chicken Skin Recipe
makes as many as desired
- chicken skins, as many as desired
- grapeseed or rice bran oil for deep frying
- shichimi togarashi
Heat a pot of water over high heat. Add the chicken skins and simmer until chicken skins are cooked, 5-8 minutes. Drain, spread out on a plate and cool. Scrape off as much fat as you can while keeping the skin intact. Place skins in the fridge, uncovered, overnight or for 2 hours to dehydrate.
Heat up 1 1/2 inches of oil to 350°F in a deep sided pot. Carefully deep fry the chicken skins until puffy and crisp, 1 minute or so. Drain on paper towels and enjoy immediately sprinkled with shichimi togarashi.
Also, Happy Thanksgiving to everyone in Canada! Hope everyone is falling into a food coma and is thankful for all the good things in life: love, family, friends and food.
21 Comments
Juliana says:
October 14, 2013 at 1:05 am
Hi there,
I am a huge fan of your blog and have tried numerous recipes and all of them were great! I was so excited to see that you posted this deep fried chicken skin recipe because like you, I always have leftover chicken skin as well! And I thought exactly the same thing, why not deep fry those suckers! I love the simplicity of your recipe, they look delish :) My recipe involves marinating them in buttermilk, coating them in flour + spices, and then deep frying them. They literally taste like the best part of classic fried chicken. I served mine with a homemade hot sauce made with green tomatoes, a bunch of serranos, vinegar, and honey. They are to DIE for, but I can’t wait till I have another batch of leftover chicken skins to give you recipe a go! Thanks for the great recipes and always-yummy-lookin food!! Here’s a link to my recipe for crispy chicken-fried chicken skins & hot sauce:http://www.piecelovecooking.com/2013/06/crispy-chicken-fried-chicken-skins-with.html
http://www.piecelovecooking.com/2013/06/homemade-wrecked-junction-hot-sauce.html
XOXO,
Juliana from Piece, Love, & CookingReply
David says:
October 17, 2013 at 1:32 pm
I am sure you already know this, but chicharones (even chicken ones) are very different than battering (is this a word?) chicken skins and deep frying them. What you are describing, as you admit, is basically making the outer coating of fried chicken.
Reply
October 14, 2013 at 3:50 am
I’ve never thought to make these at home – love these as a snack, great idea.
Reply
Tom says:
October 14, 2013 at 9:27 am
Thanks for this great idea. I’d like to think that with all the boiling and rendering they’re probably not even all that fatty. :)
Reply
Miss Tangy says:
October 14, 2013 at 11:21 am
these are EVIL looking and i love the idea :) i always order chargrilled chicken skin when having yakitori. need a pint of iced cold beer now just staring at your gorgeous pictures.
Reply
paul says:
October 15, 2013 at 4:54 pm
aggressive photography, i simply love it. Love chicken skin crisps too, who am I kidding.
Reply
VINBAB says:
October 22, 2013 at 6:49 am
Oh so that’s how you dehydrate chicken skin. Very easy!
Reply
Vince says:
June 2, 2016 at 8:11 am
The chicken skins I’m the photo, did you dehydrate them prior to flying? I just want mine to look exactly like yours.
Reply
Stephanie Le says:
June 2, 2016 at 11:12 am
hi vince,
i dehydrated them by letting them sit in the fridge, uncovered, overnight.Reply
Morgan Myers says:
August 2, 2017 at 2:53 am
I am always looking for low carb crunchy snacks to have around- and hate wasting the skin I remove from store bought chicken. This is a win-win in the world of a low carber and someone who hates to waste. Thank you!
Reply
Jo says:
October 21, 2018 at 2:31 pm
Would it be possible to make it in an oven without deep frying?
Reply
Stephanie says:
October 23, 2018 at 11:02 pm
hi jo,
unfortunately they need to be deep fried to puff up!Reply
Vivian says:
July 4, 2020 at 1:17 am
How long would the shelf life be for this recipe? Can I make it beforehand and package them? Thanks!
Reply
Stephanie says:
July 4, 2020 at 7:43 pm
hi vivian,
i haven’t tried packaging them – they usually get eaten up quickly. i don’t think they’ll last too long since there aren’t any preservativesReply
Jean says:
November 4, 2023 at 6:16 am
Hi Vivian,
Can I use a regular dehydrator for drying the skin?Reply
Stephanie says:
November 4, 2023 at 11:52 am
hi, you definitely can!
Reply
