With lots of fatback and natural hog casings leftover from the previous experiment with longganisa, I decided to make another batch of sausages… To one half of a batch of meat weighing roughly 1.5 kilos, I added 4-5 tablespoons of paprika and a little cayenne pepper. I also mixed it with red wine vinegar. This is essentially a take on a fresh chorizo of sorts. If I had used pink salt or curing salt and smoked this, they would definitely have been the drier and flavorful chorizos I am familiar with… I fried up a few of the freshly made sausages and they were good, but I found the paprika a little overwhelming… maybe it needs time to mellow a bit. The color was certainly more appetizing looking, but despite the huge amounts of paprika, they were nowhere near as red or orange as chorizo. So that should give you an idea just how much food coloring or other sources of color are required to obtain the color that most of us associate with purchased sausages…
In the second batch of meat, I added more fatback to roughly a 65/35 ratio of meat to fat, no paprika or cayenne pepper, and seasoned a little more heavily and the results were likewise better than the first batch, but the color or the sausages were still very pale. The texture of the meat just a little coarse and there still wasn’t much solid visible fat like you sometimes find in commercial sausages. I think that retail longganisas can sometimes be as much as 50% fat! Maybe in Round 3 of the chorizo chronicles, I will experiment with some pink salt or nitrates both for color, flavor and preservative qualities. With all of us in the household clocking in with pretty high cholesterol counts, I think pork experiments will have to take a breather for a while… :)
36 Responses
I’m getting hungry now just looking at these longganisa, still haven’t found one that tastes good here in Canada
How about beet powder for color instead of pink salt? I know some places use that instead of nitrates. If oyu are going commercial, MM…how about just selling them frozen. It only takes a few seconds to defrost in the microwave. I would rather buy the frozen ones rather than the ones sitting in the refrigerated showcase. My butcher recommended that. That is what I would have done anyway even if he didn’t tell me that.
Debbie,,,if you here in the B.C., try Armando’s on Granville Island. Their longganisa’s doesn’t come cheap but they are huge! You are paying for quality…both in taste and looks! They are so huge that 1 longganisa is enough for me.
Gejo…e-mail on the way. I have another dressing for you which we consume now like water! It is Japanese Fuji Apple (you can use Gala) Sesame Dressing which I tried to clone for a while now. It is a pretty good clone! I took out the guesswork for you!
Its the journey, not the destination. I’m sure you are enjoying the rest of your porcine experiments. I know that in Italian and Portuguese sausge making that red wine is used.
Hi Ms Betty q… would you include me in your mailing list of your Apple Sesame salad dressing. I’ve also emailed you for request of your award winning chocolate cake. Baka napapunta sa spam mails. My email is miotitat@yahoo.com. Maraming salamat ulit:)
i super like the pampanga longganisa for its sweetness and lots of garlic. can you make longganisa that is similar to that in taste, mm? i can have longganisa anytime of the day
with salted egg/tomato salad or just dipped in vinegar with lots of diced garlic and siling labuyo….
Hi MM, In my experience pink salt, saltpeter, salitre, prague powder and all other preservatives are unnecessary with product that doesn’t leave the cold chain until its time to cook them. When I mentioned curing the sausages earlier, I really meant air drying them in a cool environment (48 hrs in about 8 degrees celcius for pre-stuffed meat and 12-24hrs in about 15 degrees for the newly stuffed sausages). In my experience, pink salts when used in “safe” quantities do not contribute much to color (although the sausages I used to make used a lot of paprika so that may have influenced the outcome of my experiments). Color primarily comes either from the quantity of dark colored spices such as paprika (which doesn’t have as strong a flavor as say pepper thereby allowing its use in greater quantity) or other the various forms of natural and artificial food coloring. I wouldn’t recommend use of the pink salts if you’re after color or if you will keep the sausages in the freezer and consume them within a period of about 2 months.
i usually make my own skinless longganisa (on the sweet-ish side for my kids). ive been wondering if i could find longganisa casings from the butchers here in sydney. if im lucky today and finally get myself some, this post just gave me enough inspiration to make ilocos inspired longganisa (lotsa garlic, black pepper — and atchuete powder?). it would prob make nice gifts as well for friends.
Perhaps atsuete powder would be an acceptable coloring agent?
All you need are volunteers to avoid the high cholesterol counts! ;) I bet there’s going to be a long list! Good luck on the experiments!
My first Lipid profile for 2011 show decent cholesterol levels with a Fasting Blood Sugar count a little above the border. I’m ready for a few plump longganisas for breakfast with garlic fried rice and a runny sunny-side-up.
longganisa and/or chorizo are on top of my favorite food list. And they’re quite versatile as they can be used as flavorful addition to pasta and other dishes. I like stripping vigan longganisa and sauteeing the meat in olive oil and chili fakes then tossed to cooked pasta. Yum!
Load up on fiber you longganisa lovers out there. Some of the fat may just stick to the roughage and get it out of the system, healthier and less guilt.
Just reading these posts make me drool with food lust, but then I think of the artery clogging effects esp after hubby’s recent stent placement and not watching his diet these last 3 years. All the “good” stuff are bad….why???? GRRRRR!!!
Moderation, moderation, moderation.
Marketman, your post made me curious about the process for making chorizos. I know you’re taking a break from your pork experiments but I hope you will someday experiment on homemade Spanish chorizos! But Alaminos longganisas first, before the Spanish chorizos. (How demanding…)
Hello Marketman, I’ve been a long-time reader of your blog and really love all your posts about food. I was wondering (if it’s not too much to ask) if you can also write about organic lemon grass and herbs- what you did to prepare the soil and grow your own organic herbs. I watched Jessica Soho’s feature and I was assuming that that was your garden in the background.
Personally, I couldn’t care less about the (sometimes shockingly) red color, as long as the flavor is good and the texture is right. :)
I agree with betty q. I prefer them frozen without pink salt, which is why I tried to make them myself rather than buy them. A butcher-friend once confided to me that she makes her longganisas from meat leftover from yesterday’s supplies. She would start putting salitre on them in the late afternoon which is why some of her meat are already reddish whenever I drop by after office. In fairness though, her longganisas are very salable “dinadayo” as she said it, and really taste good.
MM, I bought pink salt in Unimart before, and I still haven’t used it. I know from the name it’s pink, but the color is really neon pink! Nitrate seems to be just too darned colorful to put in my food. But if your experiment turns out well, I might give mine a try. Wouldn’t food coloring have the same effect in terms of color though? But I guess that’s kinda cheating. :)
Hi betty q :) Can you also send to me the apple sesame dressing? We fell in love with roasted sesame dressing, also from Japan, and would like to try a different one. But the roasted sesame, we haven’t tried to make yet. We just buy :) please email to clarissa.villaverde@gmail.com thanks!
wow! i’m drooling now marketman :)
To me, that longganisa is just the right color, brown with some caramelization. I stay away from pink longganisa. I have this notion that the more pink the sausage, the sweeter it is and it’s usually true. I’m an ilocano and I like my longganisa garlicky and slightly sour.
I was thinking of making my own longganisa at home but my husband bought a kilo of quality ilocos longganisa from Baguio. My mom used to make them for our consumption. And yes, with lots of garlic, authentic sukang iloko and real hog casings. However, the process was more painstaking as she used a plastic funnel to stuff.
I do hope you would try to have a couple of links smoked. I’m curious how that would turn out :)
wow, I’m in the longganisa-craving-mode all week so I went on a longganisa buying spree … but I haven’t prepared one since highschool… this post gave me an idea to try it again. thanks for sharing :)
Oh sorry Marketman, the background was the kitchen herbs at Tagaytay! I read somewhere in one of your posts that you take some ingredients from your own organic farm when you cook. (The last sentence from my previous comment should be deleted)
ditto to fried-neurons over here! most consumers (unless they’re really purists who have never been fed non-processed food with non psychadelic colors) would agree that sometimes, color does not really matter! if it looks edible (and natural) then ready the forks and spoons! it’s eating time! :)
ay, yay, yay – all we can manage from over here, drooling over the longganisa.
Ms. Betty please share also to me your award winning chocolate cake recipe and apple sesame dressing. My email address is tessbfelipe@yahoo.com. Thank you.
How about achuete powder or luyang dilaw (turmeric) powder?
I’ve made longganiza, too, for the main reason of avoiding all the preservatives and artificial coloring. If you’re stuffing yourself with fat, why aggravate it with chemicals and other synthetics? But I haven’t been successfull, primarily because I wanted a fat-free version, and used lean ground pork. It wasn’t the same. But you’re inspiring, and maybe I should persevere.
Wow, great stuff. I started making an Italian sweet sausage, but I haven’t found casings yet for stuffing so I make it loose as a pizza topping. I hope to progress to making Hungarian Spicy sausages too. It is great to read about people who are or have made their own sausages of any kind.
Hi Betty Q, thanks for the tip, I’m here in Toronto, would love to try one Armando’s though…
bettyq please share your recipe for apple sesame dressing with us. thank you.
Maybe you’re doing something right….seems this batch of longganiza put you in a better mood than the “I told you so” first batch…. : )
I eagerly await the final version.
MM…if the crew has an order for lechon de leche next time, how about cleaning the PI from it and trying your hand at making Chinese sausages.
Was wondering if you use chicken instead of pork for longganiza, what type of fat do i need to use (no pork), can you buy chicken fat?
Wow I miss longanisa now, your pictures make me salivate.
MM, hi .. i love reading your blog, very interesting…………Try cabanatuan longanisa, buy in our public market…………so yummy, lots of garlic.your pics makes me hungry, i miss longanisa now.
hmmm fat is the essence of deliciousness….you should also try the small red colored longganisitas from sasmuan, pampanga….with cubes of sweet sumptous fat….awww i miss those
and don’t forget the chicharon there with a thick slab of fat and meat sold by the kilo
Just a quick update about sausage casings. I saw some being sold in at Southmall at 400+ kg. just check the meat section.
Kai, unfortunately, I doubt you’ll ever make good longganisa without fat. The fat is what makes it taste good. I hate it thought when it’s almost 75% fat (chunks of fat!) and hardly any meat like my last Ilocos longganisa purchase from Vintar.
Would using extenders like breadcrumbs/soggy bread help keep lean meat soft, anyone?