Pork Longganisa

Sold at every palengke/market back home. Tantalizing, beckoning , often unrefrigerated and exposed to Mother Nature's mercy. Long live Longganisa! Sweet , juicy and unnaturally red. That's sugar, fat and artificial coloring waltzing together and I can't wait to join in! However, before I could I put my dance shoes on , there are some longganisa issues that needed resolve .

Casing/ Skinless:

The mixture of this particular recipe is firm and could hold its shape. Skinless longganisa is less work and in my humble opinion, less messy. However , if you want authentic looking Pinoy breakfast sausage, hog casing is available at many butcher shops, already  cleaned and ready to use. Just run warm water through the casings and you're good to go. You don't need to buy any expensive kitchen gadget either.

Use a funnel and if you don't have one at home, just use any plastic bottles you have at home.Cut plastic bottle and use the upper end where the narrow opening is. Tadaaa! Now there's your funnel.   Sausages in a brisk . You need about 1 meter or probably less of hog casing for every kilo of sausage. 

Color:

Our sausages back home are characteristically, if not unnaturally,  red. If you have astuete/annato powder, you won't be having this problem.We love flaming colors in our food.  To give the longganisa its distinct color, use paprika or beet root powder instead. Curing salt also renders reddish hue to the longganisa .

Texture:

Longganisa should be juicy . To ensure that, the meat must have enough fat in it. Using lean meat would render dry  longganisas.  Brown compact sugar on the other hand, not only gives the longganisa its sweet flavor, but it also its caramelized gloss.

Taste:

Cure the meat. It makes a big difference. Marinate the minced pork for at least 1 day before cooking it. Let the spices and garlic mingle harmoniously with the meat. Look how this sausage looks after 2 days of refrigeration! Compact, almost glossy and already smellin' so devine!

 
Longganisa ala Emily

500 g fatty minced pork

7 cloves of garlic, finely minced

1/2 tbsp . of Worcestershire Sauce

80  g of brown sugar

1 tbsp of sweet paprika powder or1 tsp astuete powder

Salt and lots of freshly grounded pepper

Instruction:

1.In a clean mixing bowl, add the meat and seasoning.

2. For Skinless Longganisa : Grease an aluminum foil, shiny side up with butter. Drop about 2 tbsp. of Longganisa mixture on it and shape it into a log. Roll tightly and store in a close container and refrigerate for at least 1 day. After curing the sausage overnight, you could freeze it for the next use.

Longganisa with Casing: Pipe sausage mass into the hog casing. They're are a lot of videos in You Tube that you could follow. I used it as a guide. 

Cooking Procedure:

Longganisa

Left: Skinless Longganisa- Heat a bit of oil in a pan and pan fry sausage under medium heat until fully cooked.

Right: With Casing- Cook sausage in 1 cup of water.  Let water simmer until it fully evaporates. Then prick sausage with the tip of a knife and let sausage cook in its own juice. 

My Favorite Silog!

FF enjoyed these breakfast sausage so much, he even eats it for dinner and have it as snack while watching TV .As for me, I had longsilog for 4 straight days. No, I was not complaining either.