This guanciale I got is mostly fat.

What would be ideal for a carbonara?

And if this I got isnt useful for carbonara, how could I use it in a better way? Any ideas/applications where guanciale fat would be a good idea?

by FuzzyPijamas

12 Comments

  1. This will be completely fine, in Kenji’s SE recipe, you do a medium dice of it anyway

  2. skisagooner

    It’s beautiful. I may separate lean from fat and cook fat first.

  3. SeymourDoggo

    It’s supposed to be mostly fat. The fat renders out and forms a big part of the flavour the dish.

  4. Meancvar

    Dice and render slowly, all will be nice and crisp. Small dice, stir occasionally.

  5. Full-You-986

    Yeah use the fat to help make the fond for any sauce or especially when using a bechemel technique . Carbonara is always better with good fat content.
    1. More filling; This meal was used in its origin as a way to feed many not the few
    2: Flavor : culinary requirement
    So yea keep the fat

  6. furthestpoint

    My mouth started watering as I looked at this, thinking of the carbonara that could come of it… and the carbonara I will make with the guanciale that I buy soon.

  7. I don’t know how the math works on this – maybe someone smarter than me can help – but with jowl or belly I feel like you can take a cube of what looks like pure fat and cook it and it turns into a crispy looking cube still instead of rendering away to nothing and works fine for me in carbonara?

  8. TheGreyBrewer

    Sorry, I only use bacon in my carbonara to piss off Italian food gatekeepers. But from what I know about meat in general, the flavor is in the fat, which is what it’s in the carbonara for.

  9. whistlepig4life

    It’s perfectly fine. Just use a little less of it and cook it lower and slower.

  10. EclipseoftheHart

    Looks fine to me! Just make sure you go low & slow to render the fat (if/as desired) or potential cook some of the fattier pieces first before adding in the leaner pieces. The fat still gets crispy and meltingly delicious, so don’t be deceived if it looks too fatty to start!

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