I'm not apologizing for it.
Today, on the way to Richmond (about 35 miles from West Point and pretty much the closest "cool" place), Haley and I felt the need to stop at a local gas station for a snack. Surprisingly, this place had a pretty decent assortment of typical convenient store eats, so the decision as to what we were going to munch on for the remainder of our trip into "the cigarette capital of the world" was going to be tough. Life being full of surprises, we settled on some pork rinds.
Obviously, I am a meat eater, or the thought of anything with "pork" in its description would freak me out. But, to be honest, until today I did not know for sure if pork rinds were made of pork skin or if that was just what people called these strange little treats. But, yes, they are indeed little deep fried pieces of pig skin. And, let me tell you, they are actually pretty good. Think Andy Capp Hot Fries with an added dose of guilt.
And, in case any of you are somehow still subscribing to the Atkins Diet, they are carb free! Yes, they are a little high on the sodium side (370 mg per serving, 3 servings per 1.5 oz. bag), but what's a few swollen fingers amongst friends?
The Tom's brand of pork rinds (we chose "Hot" flavor) are crispy good and light as air. While packaged as "hot," they did not have me scrambling for something to drink (but I had a green tea standing by) and thankfully did not have me running for the bathroom right away. They were pretty salty, but that's why it falls under the "salty snack" banner.
So, we ate the whole bag, which puts us at about 700 mg of sodium each.
If you're tired of boring chips, pretzels, or crackers and you are a carnivore/omnivore, then why not give pork rinds a try?!
Ingredients:
Pork Rinds, Salt, Dextrose, Salt, Spices including chili pepper, torula yeast, maltodextrin, paprika, monosodium glutamate (???), onion powder (veggies!), garlic powder, extractives of paprika, yellow #8 lake, natural flavor (???), caramel color, and red #40 lake
Miscellaneous Pork Rind Fun!
That pork rind fondue sounds disgusting. Anything involving Velveeta is a fate worse than death. And I love me some pork rinds, so I'm just sayin'.
ReplyDeleteThis blog is GREAT! It's so much better than the other "foodie" blogs like that Appolonia or whatever... You know...that woman who's baking her way through that bread cookbook. Keep up the good work!
ReplyDeleteYou know, your blog has made me realize that my 10 years of veganism has been nothing but a sham. I'm going to eat some pork rinds right now!
ReplyDeleteYou know, I think your next post should be about how nasty that green tea latte from Starbucks was, with it's powdery matcha residue. It's still in car, so you can even photograph the nastiness.
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ReplyDeleteOh don't tell me that these are carb free! I've kept myself away from these, but after reading this post, you've convinced me to splurge a bit.
ReplyDeleteYes, these are really good!
As soon as I go back to eating meat...you have convinced me that pork rinds will be first on the list! THX
ReplyDeleteI grew up eating these things and they are delicious -- the "you can't just eat one" level of deliciousness. I haven't had one in years, but maybe...swollen fingers just might be worth it.
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