Lechonera Route · Fried Pork Cracklings
Chicharrón (Fried Pork Cracklings)
Photo: Meekers / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 4.0
The mountain town of Cayey's "La Ruta del Lechón" grew out of a handful of roadside lechoneras in Guavate decades ago and now hosts dozens of open-air lechoneras along one stretch of road.
Pork skin and belly are cut into chunks and fried in their own fat until the skin puffs into crisp, golden chicharrón, sold by the pound at open-air lechoneras alongside spit-roasted lechón, morcilla and yuca.
Why it's made this way: Cayey's Guavate barrio, in the mountains south of San Juan, became the island's undisputed pork-roasting capital, and its lechonera row is why chicharrón is inseparable from a drive through the interior.
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