Name: Québec Oreilles de crisse (Crispy Salt Pork Rinds)
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 22 min
Total time: 32 min
Yield: 6 appetizer portions
Cuisine: Canadian
Ingredients: 454 g very fatty unsmoked salt pork with rind, thinly sliced and kept refrigerated; 2 L water, for blanching; 60 mL pure maple syrup, optional for dipping

Wide view of a shallow bowl of blistered golden oreilles de crisse on a wooden sugar-shack table with maple syrup. — Slow rendering gives the salted pork its curled, blistered texture.

Prep 10 minutes

Cook 22 minutes

Total 32 minutes

Calories About 260 kcal per portion

Ingredients ↓

Overview

Québec Oreilles de crisse (Crispy Salt Pork Rinds)

Oreilles de crisse are thin, curled pieces of very fatty salted pork with rind, cooked until crisp. They are a familiar savoury part of Québec cabane à sucre meals, where they appear alongside foods such as pea soup, baked beans, eggs and maple-seasoned ham. Keep the French name: the dish is usually made from salt pork, not pig ears.

This home method follows a published Québec recipe: briefly blanch the salt pork, dry it very well, then render it slowly in a heavy skillet. The pan should be hot enough to render the fat but not so hot that it smokes or browns the slices before they crisp. Offer pure maple syrup as an optional dip; it is not part of the core recipe.

Practical

Look for very fatty, unsmoked salt pork with rind. The rind and attached fat are essential; lean bacon or fresh belly without rind behaves differently.
Dry the slices thoroughly after blanching. Any surface water can make hot fat splatter.
Render over medium-low heat and turn with tongs every few minutes. Lower the heat if the fat smokes or the slices darken too fast.
Use a splatter screen and keep hands and face clear of the skillet. Never add water to hot rendered fat.

Ingredients

For the pork rinds

454 g very fatty unsmoked salt pork with rind, thinly sliced and kept refrigerated
2 L water, for blanching
60 mL pure maple syrup, optional for dipping

Directions

Method

Blanch the salt porkKeep the pork refrigerated until ready to cook. Bring the water to a boil, add the slices and blanch for 1 minute. Drain and pat completely dry with paper towels or a clean towel.
Start renderingHeat a heavy cast-iron skillet over medium-low heat. Add the dried slices in a single layer without oil; work in batches if needed. Keep hands and face clear and set a splatter screen over the skillet.
Cook until crispTurn the slices with tongs every few minutes and render slowly for about 20 minutes, until the fat has rendered and the rinds are golden, curled and crisp. Lower the heat if the fat smokes or the slices brown too quickly. Never add water to hot fat.
Drain and serveTransfer the rinds to a paper-towel-lined plate and drain briefly. Serve hot and crisp, with maple syrup for dipping if desired.

Practical

Serving

Serve immediately as a savoury side in a Québec sugar-shack meal. A small dish of pure maple syrup is an optional sweet-salty accompaniment and is not included in the ingredient nutrition estimate.

Make-ahead

These are best fresh. Refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours in a covered container at 4°C or colder and use within 3 days. Reheat once to 74°C; the rinds will soften and may not regain their original crispness. This is not a shelf-stable preserve.

Control points

The slices brown before the fat rendersLower the heat and continue cooking slowly.
The skillet splattersMove the pan off the heat briefly. Pat the remaining slices completely dry before frying and use the splatter screen.
The rind is chewyContinue rendering gently until the pieces are golden and crisp; avoid turning the heat up sharply.
The pan is crowdedFry in batches so the slices have room to render evenly.

Nutrition

Serving sizeAbout one-sixth of the cooked batch
Calories260 kcal
Carbohydrate0 g
Protein4 g
Fat27 g
Fibre0 g
Sodium1,300 mg

Rounded, coarse estimate per portion based on generic USDA FoodData Central raw salt-pork composition, with a substantial but unmeasured amount of rendered fat left in the pan and some sodium removed by blanching. Salt cure, rind-to-fat ratio, draining and final portion size vary widely. Optional maple syrup is excluded; this is not a laboratory or product-label value.

Allergens and food safety

No priority allergen is intentionally added. Check the salt-pork package for curing ingredients and cross-contact statements. Keep the pork refrigerated and separate from ready-to-eat foods. Dry it thoroughly before it enters hot fat, use tongs and a splatter screen, and keep hands and face away from the skillet. Never add water to hot fat. Refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours at 4°C or colder, use within 3 days and reheat once to 74°C if serving again.

FAQ

Are oreilles de crisse made from pig ears?

No. Despite the name, the Québec dish is made from thin slices of very fatty salt pork with rind, rendered until crisp.

Can I use bacon instead?

Lean or smoked bacon will have a different cure, flavour and fat-to-rind ratio. For the intended result, choose unsmoked salt pork with rind.

Québec Oreilles de crisse (Crispy Salt Pork Rinds)

Blanch and dry thin slices of salt pork, then render them slowly until the rinds turn golden and crisp.
Serve the Québec sugar-shack side hot, with optional maple syrup for dipping.