I am sharing with you a special delicacy from my home town…. Longanisang Tuguegarao or Longanisang Ybanag.
Longanisa is very much a part of Filipino breakfast. Just like chorizos or sausages, it has its different variations depending on where you are from. My hometown of Tuguegarao boasts its own version of longanisa. You may find it very similar to that of Vigan longanisa; tangy, salty, garlicky, and cooked on its own rendered fat. You could either make it crunchy by toasting or frying or once cooked leave it soft with its silky casing and its juices and flavors will burst in your mouth when you bite it.
On my recent trip to Orlando, Benedict, my brother in law made some longanisa. It was definitely a hit especially for all of us who miss our town’s famous longanisa. He served it one breakfast morning and you should have seen how surpirsed my aunts and his cousins were when they saw a whole batch of longanisa on a big platter. They looked so authentic like it was flown from Tuguegarao! I’d like to thank him for sharing with us the step by step process and also for showing us his improvised funnel (so practical and so classic of him– haha!)
Let’s start with ingredients:
2-3 lbs of coursely ground pork
1 tbsp ground pepper
7 cloves garlic, chopped (you may add or lessen the amount depending on how much garlic you want)
1 tbsp salt
3 tbsp cane vinegar (if you could find sukang iloco the better)
1 1/2 tbsp oil cooked with achuete
hog casing (he bought it from a local meatshop)
cooking twine
Mix all the ingredients together. Remember not to over mix it as you want to retain its course texture.
This is the funnel that he used; an improvised funnel with the use of the top of a water bottle. The mouth of the water bottle is just perfect to make the process of filling the casing so much easier.
Fill-up the casing like so…
Tie the ends of each longanisa …
One of the “secrets” to Longanisang Tuguegarao or Longanisang Ybanag is to air dry it. Now for the other “secrets” the pork should contain fat and should be coursely chopped. Also the vinegar should be sukang iloko or if it’s white vinegar, use a good brand such as Datu Puti and lastly, there should be plenty of garlic.
Once dry, store in the freezer or if you can’t wait like me, cook it by rendering its fat; add a minimal amount of water., let it simmer until its fat is rendered.
Serve with garlic rice and egg… with sides of fresh tomatoes and a dipping sauce of vinegar… ENJOY!
© 2012, Malou @ Skip to Malou. All rights reserved.
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