Soul Food: How to Cook Chitlins (Chitterlings) & Some Chitlin History

Soul food is good for the soul. If you want to know how to cook chitlins (chitterlings), then read on. Growing up, my mother never made chitlins. I'm not sure if it was because she didn't know how to make them or if she was just tired of eating them from when she was younger. Coming from a family of nine children, my mother being the oldest, chitlins and other soul food was an easy way to feed a large family. Later, I found out that she had her gallbladder removed when she was a teenager and that was why she didn't eat them anymore. I tasted chitlins for the first time when I was seventeen years old and loved them! They were prepared by my uncle's wife and I just couldn't get enough. Some years later, I would start cooking them on my own.

Above is a picture of a slave family. Chitterlings or chitlins, as most people call them, were a main source of food for slaves. This is because the slave owners would butcher the hog and take the best parts for themselves and leave the "undesired" parts for the slaves to eat. This included the pig snout, ears, intestines (chitterlings), feet, neckbones and skin.

Black women would cook the meals over a fire in a kettle. You can see in the picure below, that slave quarters consisted of one room where the entire family slept and ate.

Chitlins are now eaten not only by blacks, but whites and other races as well. They are considered a Southern food specialty. Some Blacks refuse to eat this type of food because they feel it is an insult to their heritage because of the struggles that slaves went through. My father is one of these people. He always used to tell me that chitlins were the "scraps" that the slave owners would give to the slaves and he didn't understand why Blacks would freely eat them now. It is interesting, when you think about it, how something that was considered not worthy of eating by white slave owners is now eaten by people the world over.

But chitlins, like other soul food is a traditional food. Made with love and strength by black slave women so many years ago. They really put their heart and "soul" into their meals for their family and so, it is a fitting thing to continue that tradition. Be sure to put your "soul" into your chitlins when you cook them for your own family.

Yes, what you have heard is true. Uncooked, raw chitlins stink. Bad. They will literally stink the whole house. But if you can make it past the smell, you've won the battle and they are well worth eating. Think of it as a reward for putting up with the smell! Once you've prepared them a few times, you actually get used to the smell and it doesn't bother you as much anymore.

Now the first thing you must do is decide how much chitlins you want to cook. Chitlins absorb water as they cook and they shrink. So whether you buy a big bucket of them or the pre-cleaned ones in the plastic package doesn't really matter because you'll end up with a little over half of it to actually eat.

Now, lots of people buy the infamous red bucket, which are the cheapest, will yield more chitlins for you and are the smelliest. This is because they have not been pre-cleaned and you will have the wonderful opportunity for taking on that job. The pre-cleaned chitlins in the bag still have to be cleaned, you just don't have as much to do and they don't smell as bad. They are more expensive, about twice the price of what you would pay for the bucket.

Note: If you have sensitive hands, I do not recommend getting the ones in the bucket as they will irritate your hands, especially if you have eczema. I recommend wearing gloves no matter which one you purchase, although the gloves do make it harder to clean.

Chitlins or chitterlings are, in fact, pig intestines. As you can imagine, the intestines carry feces. So, obviously, you want to make sure to remove the feces, but you also want to make sure you are not spreading any viruses or bacteria such as E coli or Salmonella. Like any other raw food, these things can be present in chitlins.

You should boil the chitlins first for five minutes prior to cleaning them to kill any present bacteria. This will not change the end result taste of your chitlins and actually makes it easier to clean them. If you don't have time to boil-cool-clean-cook, then you can clean them using hot water instead of cold water. This is the method that I use and no one has ever gotten sick eating my chitlins yet!

Cleaning chitlins is one of those things you learn by doing. My first chitlin cleaning lesson was given to me over the phone. Really! You will want to pick out the obvious looking things..straw, hair, feces--anything that doesn't look like you would eat it. Don't be surprised by what you see, pigs eat everything. Use common sense. You are only eating the intestines people, not what's in the intestines. Clean them inside and out, removing any fat as well.

For those of you that are more visual learners, here is a pretty good YouTube video showing what you need to do. It's about ten minutes long, but you only need the first three minutes or so to get the idea. Like many black women, you were taught to cook young and carry the tradition on through your own children. Watching and listening to the entire video will give you some more background on southern cooking. There are more videos on YouTube as well, but you will have to tolerate people's background music and conversations while watching the videos, but every little bit helps!

After cleaning them and making sure they are rinsed very well, at least 3 or 4 times, you are ready to cook them. Now the great thing about soul food is that there is no "set" rules or recipe. Everyone makes their chitlins a little different but there are a few things that are pretty much the norm with everyone.

1. A big pot. Your pot can be stainless steel or cast iron. Cast iron pots or dutch ovens are great for cooking chitlins and are very like what was used by slaves hundreds of years ago. They last forever, and even transfer iron into the food that is being cooked. Most southern families have a "big pot" or "grandmas pot" that have been passed down through the family. Once you have owned a cast iron skillet or pot, you won't be the same!

You can buy them "seasoned" or season them yourself. Seasoning a cast iron skillet or pot involves coating it inside and out with oil and then putting it in the oven for about an hour. This makes it into the ultimate non-stick surface. You want to do this before your start using it. Some people do it prior to cooking each time. It's entirely up to you.

2. Onions, lots of onions. Onions not only flavor the chitlins nicely, but also help cut down on that pungent chiltin smell. You'll hear a lot of southern folk say "put half an onion in the pot". Personally, I use a whole medium to large-sized onion, chopped. You can add more or less to your taste, but I don't know anyone who doesn't put onion in their chitlins.

3. Vinegar- Regular or Apple-Cider. Vinegar is another "norm" that most put in their chitlins,. Some soak their chitlins in vinegar during the cleaning process. You can do that if you'd like. I add vinegar during the cooking process.

Okay, you've suffered through the smell, the cleaning, the rinsing and now are ready to cook them. You've got your big pot, your onions and your vinegar. Now what? Putting it all in the pot!

With chitlins in the pot, add your onions, your vinegar and your other seasonings. Here's what I use, but you don't have to stick to this. Everyone seasons their chitlins a little bit differently. Some like theirs with a little spiciness to it, some like theirs more lemony while others want theirs with a more vinegar taste to it. You can try it this way and change it the next time. Seems to me each time I make chitlins, it's better than the last time, so enjoy experimenting!

Okay so here's my own recipe...remember real soul food is not about measuring spoons and such -- you have to feel what's right and cook by sight. This is for about 10 pounds of chitlins.

1 Medium to Large-sized onion, chopped or sliced

White Vinegar - about 1 to 1.5 cups or more to taste

Lots of Lemon Pepper

About 1/4 cup of Lemon Juice-fresh squeezed or concentrated

Garlic Powder of Fresh Garlic (1 -2 cloves)

Seasoning Salt

Few Dashes of Soy Sauce(Lite)

Boil, covered for about 3 hours. Add more water to the pot as necessary during the cooking process. The chitlins should always remain covered with liquid or they will dry out. My family uses hot sauce on them once cooked. I like to eat them plain with no hot sauce. Try it both ways!

Here's what other people may put in their chitlins. You can add some or all of these according to your taste.

Red pepper flakes

Jalepeno peppers

Celery

Bell pepper

Bay leaf

Creole seasoning

One Potato- whole or sliced ( some people put this in to kill the smell and help remove the fat during cooking; they discard the whole potato after cooking)

Make your own chitlin recipe to pass down through your family. Chitlins taste better after they have been cooked and absorbed the seasonings overnight. Enjoy!!