How To Render Lard

You can buy lard (rendered pork fat) from some butchers and supermarkets but rendering it yourself produces the bonus of pork ‘scratchings’, those crunchy little golden bits that are left behind once the fat has melted! Pork back fat is inexpensive and available from most Asian butchers, so it’s worth making lard at home.

Thais often use pork fat for cooking and generally add a few aromatic ingredients to ‘clean up’ the porky aroma. If you have scraps left from slicing rhizomes to make dried ginger powder and dried galangal powder, use them.

The fat doesn’t really start to render, until the water boils off, so timing depends largely on how much water you use. Once the water has evaporated, always use a dry spoon to stir the oil as any moisture introduced at that stage will cause the oil to spit.

Rendered lard keeps in the fridge for weeks, scratchings are best refrigerated in a paper lined zip-lock bag and eaten within a few days.

You’ll get about 140ml of lard and 70g (about ¾ cup) of scratchings from 250g fat.

You’ll need:

250g pork back fat
1 teaspoon salt flakes
2 slices peeled ginger (optional)
2 slices peeled galangal (optional)

Here’s how to render lard and make delicious pork scratchings (scroll down for a step-by-step video).

Rinse the fat under cold water, pat dry and chop as finely as possible.
Place fat in a saucepan, cover with water and add salt.
Place over a medium–high heat and boil until most of the water has evaporated, stirring occasionally.
Once water has evaporated, reduce heat to medium and use a dry wooden or metal spoon to stir often. Cook until the solid bits of fat start to turn golden.
Add ginger and garlic if using, reduce heat to low–medium and stir for a further couple of minutes until the solid bits (scratchings) are dark golden and everything smells toasty.
Drain off and reserve the rendered fat.
Drain the scratchings on paper towel and set aside separately.