I remember as a young girl, my parents packed my two brothers and I into the car on the weekends and dad drove to fellow Filipinos living in the community to sell Longanisa, tocino and tinapa (smoked fish). My parents used to make these traditional foods from scratch to sell.
Nowadays, mum and dad make these just for us. Recently my mum showed my sis in law and me how to make longanisa. These sausages are made of pork and is sweet. My mum's version has fatty pork mince (has to be fatty for it to be moist), minced garlic, vinegar, sugar and salt and pepper and achuete (powdered anato seeds).
The ingredients are all mixed in a bowl with hands (the best kitchen tool around) untill it's well combined, then placed in a sausage machine. My mum's machine is the same one she used 20 odd years ago!
Some people cure it for four days but it's not necessary. It can be cooked and eaten straight away. To cook, you place in a frying pan with enough water to come up a 1/4 of the sausage and let it boil till all the water dissolves (about 15 -20 mins). Then let it fry in it's own fat till nice and brown. If there's not enough fat, you can add oil.
Once cooked, enjoy for breakfast with garlic rice (sinangag) and fried egg. Or you can have it anytime of the day with plain rice. Yum!
Bon Appetite,
Cherrie
