There are some recipes for chitlins that are called Southern; however, the Creole and Cajun culture cooks chitterlings a bit differently than the rest of the South. I believe this simple recipe does the heritage justice. Serve with your favorite side dishes and store any leftovers in the refrigerator. Like so many other great soul food dishes, chitlins taste even better after the flavor has soaked in for a few hours.
Ingredients
- chitterlings (or frozen chitterlings, thawed): 10 pound (fresh)
- onions: 2 piece (peeled)
- potato: 1 piece (peeled)
- stalks celery, with leaves: 3 piece
- medium green bell pepper: 1 piece (chopped)
- apple cider vinegar: 1 cup
- garlic: 3 clove
- salt: 2 Tbsp
- bay leaf: 1 piece
- Creole seasoning: 1 tsp (to taste)
- red pepper flakes: 1 tsp (to taste)
Metric Conversion
Stages of cooking
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Clean chitterlings by removing all specks and any pieces of fat with specks on them. Rinse in several changes of salted water.
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Place cleaned chitterlings into a large pot and fill with enough water to cover; bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Drain, rinse, and return to the pot. Fill again with enough water to cover.
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Add whole onions, potato, and celery stalks, plus chopped bell pepper, vinegar, garlic, salt, bay leaf, Creole seasoning, and red pepper flakes to the pot. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then cover and simmer over medium heat for 3 to 4 hours; chitterlings should appear clear to white in color.
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Use a slotted spoon to transfer chitterlings to a cutting board. Cut into 1-inch pieces. Discard onions, potato, celery, and bay leaf. Pour out most of the cooking liquid, then return chitterlings to the pot.
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Cook over medium heat until chitterlings are heated through, 2 to 3 minutes.
