Longganisa
Longganisang hamonado
Fatty minced pork seasoned with brown sugar, garlic and vinegar, rested overnight, rolled into skinless logs and fried until sticky. Breakfast with garlic rice.
Recipe by I Want Some Food · Reviewed by the editorial kitchen. Native name preserved: Longganisang hamonado.
- Prep
- 30 min
- Cook
- 15 min
- Rest
- 12 hr
- Total
- 12 hr 45 min
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Spice
- No chilli
- Cost
- Cheap nightUnder $8 USD · indicative, not a store price
About
This is longganisa hamonado, the sweet skinless kind, and it is the easy one to make at home. Fatty minced pork is mixed with brown sugar, garlic, a little soy sauce, vinegar, salt and pepper, left overnight in the fridge to firm up, then rolled into short logs in squares of baking paper. No casing, no sausage stuffer. They are cooked in a little water first, which cooks them through, then fried in their own fat as the water goes, until the sugar caramelises dark and sticky. Eat them with garlic fried rice and a fried egg. The garlicky, sour Vigan style is a different sausage altogether.
What you'll need
10 ingredients. Tap each one once it's out on the bench.
- Sausage
- To cook
Ingredients
Sausage
- Pork, minced shoulder with its fat, about 25%500 g
- Brown sugar60 g
- Garlic, minced6 clove
- Soy sauce15 ml
- Vinegar, cane or white vinegar15 ml
- Salt4.9 ml
- Black pepper4.9 ml
- Paprika, sweet, for colour4.9 ml
To cook
- Water60 ml
- Neutral oil15 ml
Scaling multiplies the written quantities. Baking still prefers a scale.
Steps
Step 1
Mix the pork with the sugar, garlic, soy sauce, vinegar, salt, pepper and paprika, and knead for 2 minutes until sticky. Fry a teaspoon to taste for salt and sweetness, then cover and refrigerate overnight.
10 min
Tip: The overnight rest lets the sugar dissolve and the salt firm up the meat. Same-day longganisa tastes like sweet meatballs. There is no curing salt here, so this is still fresh pork as far as keeping goes.
Step 2
Cut baking paper into 12 cm squares. Put about 50 g of the mix on each, roll it into a log 8 cm long and twist the ends like a sweet wrapper. Chill again until firm, or freeze.
20 min
Step 3
Unwrap the sausages into a frying pan with the water and oil. Cover and cook over medium heat for 5 to 6 minutes, turning once, until the water has almost gone.
6 min
Step 4
Uncover and keep cooking, turning often, for another 5 to 6 minutes as they fry in the fat they have released, until dark brown, sticky and caramelised all over and cooked through, 71°C in the centre.
6 min
Watch: Sugar burns quickly at this stage. Turn the heat down if they darken too fast.
Step 5
Serve hot with garlic fried rice, a fried egg and a small dish of vinegar with chopped garlic and chilli.
2 min
Nutrition
Per serving · estimate
- Calories
- 134 kcal
- Protein
- 11.6 g
- Carbs
- 6 g
- Fat
- 6.9 g
- Saturated fat
- 2.2 g
- Fibre
- 0.2 g
- Sugar
- 4.9 g
- Sodium
- 280 mg
Calculated from canonical ingredient data (USDA FoodData Central averages and equivalent published tables). Estimates only.
Allergens
Informational only. Not a medical guarantee. Cross-contamination happens in real kitchens.
- Wheat
- Soy
- Dairy-free
- Nut-free
Adapt this recipe
The original recipe stays as it is. Personal versions are labelled. Serving changes are simple maths.
Adaptations · 0 / 15 used. Resets 12 November.
Substitutions
Paprika → Annatto powder (achuete)
The traditional colouring. Use half a teaspoon.
Tips
- Keep them as you would fresh mince: cook within two days of mixing, or freeze them in their paper. Cook from frozen, adding 3 minutes to the covered stage.
- Lean mince makes dry, crumbly longganisa. The fat is what lets them fry in their own juices.
- A spoon of pineapple juice in the mix gives the slightly fruity taste many Pampanga families like.
History & culture
Longganisa is breakfast. Every region of the Philippines seems to have its own: sweet hamonado from Pampanga, small garlicky Vigan sausages from Ilocos, oregano-heavy Lucban, sweet red Cebu chorizo. Longsilog, from longganisa, sinangag and itlog, is the standard breakfast plate at home and at the roadside silog stalls that serve it all day.
The name comes from the Spanish longaniza, a long pork sausage, and the idea arrived with Spanish colonial rule. Filipino cooks rebuilt it with cane sugar, vinegar, garlic and local spice until each province had its own version. Skinless longganisa is a later home convenience that became a supermarket staple.
Traditional — This is the sweet hamonado style. Pampanga cooks often add a little pineapple juice and use annatto rather than paprika for colour. Vigan longganisa, the garlicky sour kind, is cased, dried, and made with cane vinegar and little or no sugar; this recipe does not make it.
Provenance: Editorial adaptation.
Questions about this recipe
Answers taken from this dish's times, amounts, swaps and tips.
How long does Longganisa take?
12 hr 45 min all in — 30 min prep, 15 min cook, 12 hr rest. Cook and rest follow the method. Leftover storage and optional extra waits are not included.
How many does it serve?
The recipe is written for 12 sausages. Scale the ingredient list on the page if you are cooking for a different number.
How hard is it?
Easy.
How spicy is it?
No chilli.
What allergens should I watch?
This recipe is labelled for Wheat, Soy. Labels are informational — check the packets in your kitchen. This is not medical advice.
Does it fit a diet?
The published recipe is labelled Dairy-free, Nut-free.
11 more questionsFewer questions
What does it cost to cook?
Cheap night — about Under $8 USD, as a grocery budget for this recipe, not a restaurant price.
What equipment do I need?
Mixing bowl, Frying pan, Tongs.
How much salt do I put in?
The recipe lists Salt at 1 tsp.
How much brown sugar?
60 g of Brown sugar.
How much soy sauce?
1 tbsp of Soy sauce.
How much vinegar?
1 tbsp (cane or white vinegar) of Vinegar.
What can I use instead?
Paprika → Annatto powder (achuete). The traditional colouring. Use half a teaspoon.
What should I watch for?
Sugar burns quickly at this stage. Turn the heat down if they darken too fast.
Any tips from this recipe?
Keep them as you would fresh mince: cook within two days of mixing, or freeze them in their paper. Cook from frozen, adding 3 minutes to the covered stage. Lean mince makes dry, crumbly longganisa. The fat is what lets them fry in their own juices. A spoon of pineapple juice in the mix gives the slightly fruity taste many Pampanga families like.
Can I prepare this ahead?
The overnight rest lets the sugar dissolve and the salt firm up the meat. Same-day longganisa tastes like sweet meatballs. There is no curing salt here, so this is still fresh pork as far as keeping goes.
Can I use an air fryer?
This method is not written for an air fryer. The core technique on the page still applies.
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