Chitterlings

Name: Chitterlings
Total time: 4 h
Yield: 6 servings
Cuisine: Soul Food
Ingredients: Chitterlings; Onion; Garlic; Bay leaf; Vinegar; Salt; Black pepper; Smoked paprika; Water; Olive oil

358 kcal a serving, against 492 for the traditional version. That is 134 kcal off, or 27%, with 40.2g of protein. Serves 6. 4 hours (plus cooling and preparation).

What the traditional version is

Pig intestines are thoroughly cleaned (usually several times in salt, vinegar, and water), then boiled in salted water with onion, garlic, bay leaf, and a little vinegar for 2-3 hours until tender. Once cooked, the chitterlings are drained and sometimes fried or stewed further, but most often served sliced with hot sauce, sometimes with a bit of the boiling liquor.

What changed, and what each change costs

Fat-on chitterlings for meticulously de-fatted chitterlings

Nearly all the calories come from the visible and attached fat on the intestines. Trimming every strip of fat before boiling gets you a dish that won't frighten your fitness tracker.

What it costs you. Most of the flavour, all of the richness, and any reason for a second helping. Chitterlings without the fat become rubbery, bland, and determinedly squeaky - at best, edible, at worst, a dare. Anyone who tells you different is lying, and possibly trying to get out of doing the washing up.

Boiling liquor with minimal fat for a double dose of aromatics and vinegar, plus a spoonful of smoked paprika

With the fat gone, you're left with something that needs all the help it can get. More onion and garlic, extra vinegar, and smoked paprika stand in as best they can for the parts you've lost.

What it costs you. The best you'll get is a faint smokiness and a punch of sharpness, but it's never going to taste like pork confit. Still, you'll notice at least some flavour - if you close your eyes and concentrate.

Serving as is, versus a brief fry in a little olive oil before serving

A quick sizzle in olive oil gives you the illusion of richness and helps the outside brown, even if everything inside is still pure restraint. Let's not pretend it transforms things, but it does add a bit of bite.

What it costs you. You'll be adding a splash of oil back in, but nowhere near what you'd get from the original fat. It helps, but don't expect wonder.

What goes in it

The ingredients, without the quantities. The weights are what the figures below are computed from, and they are in the book.

Chitterlings
Onion
Garlic
Bay leaf
Vinegar
Salt
Black pepper
Smoked paprika
Water
Olive oil

How it starts

If you've never cleaned chitterlings before, start early.
Soak the cleaned chitterlings in cold water with a good splash of vinegar (about 30g) for an hour.
In a large pot, combine the chitterlings, onions (sliced), garlic (crushed), bay leaves, salt, black pepper, smoked paprika, and the rest of the vinegar.

The rest of the method, and every weight, is in Authentic-ish Soul Food.

The numbers

Per serving	Traditional	Lightened
Calories	492	358
Protein	35g	40.2g
Fat	36.1g	17.5g
Saturated fat	12.5g	5.4g
Carbohydrate	4.2g	7.6g
Protein per 100 kcal	7.1g	11.2g

Every figure is computed from the recipe's own weighed ingredient list against public food composition databases. The appendix in Authentic-ish Soul Food prints the exact database row used for each ingredient, so any number here can be checked. How every number is computed sets out the method.

Allergens. sulphites.

The method is in the book

Here's the honest bit: stripping every bit of fat from chitterlings does make them high-protein, but it also makes them sad. The original is soft, rich, and properly savoury, with enough flavour to make you forget what you're actually eating. This version is lean, chewy, and kept alive mostly by vinegar and bravado. Eat it if you want to win a bet, or if you really love squeaky textures. For everyone else, this is soul food in the sense that you'll feel every bite in yours. I'd say make the classic and just eat a little less, but sometimes you've got to try these things once.

The quantities and the method for this dish are in Authentic-ish Soul Food, along with 50 more. It is not out yet. The swap kit is free in the meantime.