This dish originated in Puerto Rico and is named after the way in which a Can-Can dancers skirt flares. The trickiest part of this amazing keto-friendly dish is finding the cut of meat. It is the chop with some rib left on but extends down to the belly (think bacon) and has some skin still attached to make for delicious cracklings. The original dish is from Puerto Rico where they use culantro. Cilantro is a good substitute.
One big chop can feed two people.
Can-Can Chop Ingredients:
- 8 ounces of water
- 1 tbsp of baking soda
Marinade Ingredients (can double if you wish to use this as a sauce to accompany the dish):
- 1 bunch of culantro or cilantro
- 2 cloves of garlic
- ¼ cup olive oil
- Salt and pepper
Fry Ingredients:
- Your choice of oil for frying (stay away from vegetable oils and seed oils. They are very inflammatory.)
- I used pork lard.
First start by cutting through the skin into the fat but not so far as to cut the meat. Make cuts about every ½ -1 inch. This will make the edge of the meat “flare” like a can-can dancer’s skirt.
Mix the water with baking soda. Place the chop into a baking dish and cover with the water. Brine for at least an hour or up to 24 hours. This will help to keep the meat moist.
Remove the chop from the water and rinse well. Pat dry.
Marinade:
Add all of the ingredients into a blender and mix. Slather over entire chop surface and allow this to marinate 2-3 hours or overnight.
Grill:
Grill the meat until the internal temperature reaches 150 with a thermometer. Remove from grill and wrap in tin foil and allow temperature to come up to 160.
Fry:
Heat oil in a deep cast iron pot with enough room to hold the chop and enough oil to just cover it. Heat long enough for the skin to crackle and get a little crunchy.