Romanian Pork Cracklings (Jumări)

jumari pork cracklings on a spoon being lifted out of pot

Romanian Pork Cracklings (Jumări)

Traditional Romanian pork cracklings (jumări) made by slowly rendering pork belly, producing crisp bites and flavorful homemade lard. This recipe makes about 2.5 cups of jumări. Assuming a serving of 2 tablespoons then you'll have about 20 servings (16 tablespoons per cup).

Course Appetizer, Snack, Starter

Cuisine Romanian

Keyword Pork

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 1

Total Time 1 10

Servings servings

Calories 361kcal

Ingredients

1 kg pork belly fat about 2lb, skinless
1 teaspoon salt

Instructions

Cut the pork belly into 2–3 cm / ¾–1 in cubes.
Place the pork belly cubes in a heavy-bottomed pot and sprinkle in the salt.
Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently. Within a few minutes the fat will change from pink to beige..
Once all the fat is opaque beige, reduce heat to low. You can stir less frequently but keep it low and slow until the fat turns golden and reduce as it releases fat (lard) and water (steam).
Once all cracklings are evenly golden brown, turn off heat and remove immediately with a slotted spoon.

Notes

Note on calories

You are probably not overly concerned with calories if consulting a recipe for cracklings but in any case a note for accuracy.

The calorie calculation is not accurate since it assumes the whole 1kg/2lbs of belly fat went into the cracklings when in fact some 500-700ml (2-3 cups) of lard is also produced.

A more accurate estimate (accounting for the lard) is about 60 calories per 2 tablespoon serving.

Nutrition