Skinless Longganisa with a delicious medley of sweet, savory, and garlicky flavors you’ll love. Serve these Filipino pork sausages with garlic fried rice and sunny side eggs for a hearty and tasty breakfast meal!
My daughter is coming down from Northern California this weekend to visit, so I thought I would prepare her favorite skinless longganisa and have a few packs ready for her to bring back home.
Unfortunately, she didn’t take after me the love for cooking, and now that she lives miles away, she mostly dines out or orders in. I am sure having these Filipino sausages in the freezer will come in handy when she’s craving a quick and easy home-cooked meal.
And since I was making them anyway, I thought I might as well take a few in-process photos and update this post I first published in 2013. I hope you find the tips helpful.
What is Skinless Longganisa?
Skinless longganisa is a version of the native Filipino sausage usually made of ground pork, garlic, and spices. However, instead of stuffing into hog casings, the pork mixture is wrapped in wax paper or plastic film to maintain shape.
Its taste is mostly sweet and garlicky like hamonado but “hot” varieties are also common with added copious amounts of ground pepper.
How Do You Make Skinless Longganisa
Skinless longganisa are so easy to make, you’ll have a big batch ready in a cinch. It’s just a matter of mixing the ground pork, minced garlic, brown sugar, soy sauce, vinegar, salt, and pepper in a bowl until fully incorporated.
- Good sausage needs fat as well as lean meat for flavor and juiciness. You can add 1/2 pound of ground pork fat to 1 1/2 pounds of lean ground pork or you can’t find pork fat, use 2 pounds of ground pork with good fat marbling.
- I don’t usually use extenders or binders such as flour or breadcrumbs, but I recently learned a “magic” ingredient that keeps the longanisa super moist and tender and that is corn starch! Dissolve the 2 tablespoons of corn starch in 3 to 4 tablespoons water and add to the pork. Chill the meat mixture for about 30 minutes before shaping and wrapping. The corn starch slurry will act as a tenderizer, much like in velveting, and will keep the sausages soft and juicy.
- Want variety? Swap ground chicken or ground beef for the pork!
- The most time-consuming part of the preparation, in my opinion, is shaping the pork sausage into thin logs and wrapping in wax paper. Cut the paper in even lengths and use as a guideline when forming the longganisa for uniform sizes.
- If you want to skip the tedious individual wrapping, spread the longanisa mixture into about a 1/2-inch thick layer on a sheet of wax paper, cut into sizes with a knife or a pizza cutter, and then place another wax paper sheet on top of the mixture to cover.
Arrange the wrapped sausages in resealable bags and they should keep in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 days or in the freezer for 1 to 2 months. I suggest labeling the bag or container with the packing date so you’ll know until when they’ll be good for.
How to Cook Longganisa
You can thaw the pork longganisa for a few hours or cook frozen.
- Peel the wrapper and in a wide pan, arrange the sausage in a single layer. Add about 1/2 cup of water to cover them halfway.
- Over medium heat, bring to simmer and cover. Cook until most of the liquid is reduced and pork is cooked through.
- Add about 1 to 2 tablespoons of oil and continue to cook, uncovered and stirring regularly, until lightly browned and caramelized.
Serve these sweet sausages with garlic fried rice and sunny side up eggs for a classic Filipino breakfast called Longsilog.
I love this hearty meal with a side of chopped tomatoes for a pop of fresh flavor but spiced vinegar dip is also a traditional accompaniment. My pickled atchara will be delicious here, too!
Ingredients
- 2 pounds ground pork
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 head garlic, peeled and minced
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon vinegar
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 2 teaspoons ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon canola oil
Equipment
Instructions
- In a bowl, combine ground pork, ground pork fat, sugar, garlic, soy sauce, vinegar, salt, and pepper.
- Add cornstarch. Mix until well-distributed.
- On an individual sheet of plastic film or wax paper, spoon about a heaping tablespoon of pork mixture and form into a log. Roll and wrap tightly.
- Repeat until all the mixture is shaped and wrapped. Arrange sausages in a ziplock bag or airtight container and freeze.
- To cook, remove wax paper. In a wide pan over medium heat, arrange skinless longganisa in a single layer and add enough water to cover sausages halfway.
- Bring to a simmer, cover, and cook until most of the water is reduced and sausages are cooked through.
- Add the oil and cook, turning as needed, until longganisa are lightly browned and caramelized.
- Remove from pan and serve hot.
Notes
Video
Nutrition Information
“This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.”
June says
Must try this one👍👍thanks for sharing this recipe😍😍keep it up..gid bless