When I was a child in Cebu, a typical breakfast consisted of fried eggs, fried meat or fish and rice. The meat could be longaniza, tapa, Spam, Vienna sausage or corned beef. The fish could be salted dried fish, such as danggit or dilis. Breakfast could also include pandesal, ensaymada or rice cakes. A breakfast of rice, eggs and chorizo was my favorite. I have tasted other Filipino sausages in places I have visited — Vigan, Negros, Manila, Palawan, Bohol — but nothing offered that unique savory taste of good Cebuano chorizo.
Missing the Taste of Home
In California, where I have lived for years, I like to recreate this Filipino breakfast for my family and myself. Filipino markets in Los Angeles sell longaniza, and I stock up and freeze them for my Sunday Filipino breakfasts. But these longanizas are sweet and lack the complex taste of the Cebuano longaniza of my childhood.
I mentioned missing Cebuano chorizo to my cousin Manny Gonzalez recently while on holiday together. He suggested trying the longaniza recipe used at Plantation Bay, where he is CEO. I told him I would try making it, with the caveat that I had never made sausages and specifically had never used a meat grinder.
Getting the Recipe
Soon, I received their longaniza recipe from the resort's executive chef Lee Mathew Ramas. At first, I felt intimidated by the lengthy recipe that used the metric system — grams and kilograms. I was more used to Imperial units like ounces and pounds. But there was something appealing about making my own homemade longaniza, so I decided to try.
The first thing I did was get a metal meat grinder — simple, sturdy, stainless steel — which looked just like the one in my childhood kitchen. I practiced using it by making cat food for my two fur babies from chicken breast. They did not like my homemade cat food, but I figured out how to use the meat grinder.
Next, I studied Chef Lee's recipe. I noted that it was for around 21 dozen longanizas. I would not be making 21 dozen, but I could make four dozen. I converted the metric measurements to Imperial units and made the necessary adjustments.
Ingredients and Preparation
Chef Lee had wisely sent me photos of the Knorr and Prague Powder to use. It was easy enough to order these online. My cousin advised me not to bother using pork casing because it generally tastes like plastic; instead, I could simply mold the meat mixture.
Here in California, I found all the ingredients except pork back fat. I decided to use bacon bits, loaded with fat, as a substitute. I gathered all my ingredients, chilled the meat in the freezer and set up my meat grinder. After half an hour of preparation, I got to work.
While working, I remembered that on several occasions, when I was a little girl and under the cook's supervision, I was allowed to turn the crank of our metal meat grinder to make ground beef. I remembered my delight at seeing the meat come out in ground ribbons. I felt the same joy now as I shoved pieces of pork through the grinder and watched the curling ribbons of ground meat emerge. It did not take long to grind the pork and bacon bits.
Mixing and Shaping
I mixed the ground pork and bacon bits in a huge bowl and added the spices. Following my cousin's advice, I took about 10 percent of the mixture and reground it. This helped the mixture hold better, he said. At some point, it felt like I was making meatloaf, and I slowly shook off most of my fears.
I was still unsure if my measurements were correct, so I decided to cook one sausage and taste it. It was perfect. I placed the mixture in the fridge overnight to allow it to set, as instructed by Chef Lee.
Since I opted not to stuff the sausage into casings, I had to decide how to form the mixture. I shaped them into logs, about seven inches long and three inches in diameter. I could freeze them that way, and when needed, I could pull one out, defrost it and cut it into patties or shape them into smaller traditional logs.
The Perfect Result
My family and I enjoyed this recipe very much — I most of all, because these longanizas bring me right back to my childhood in Cebu. I have to say that this is the best longaniza I have ever tasted.
