Last updated on February 16th, 2023 at 10:45 am

If you’re not yet familiar on how to cook longganisa, this will be the easiest instruction list!

Longganisa is a type of Filipino sausage. Its name is derived from the Spanish Longaniza but varies in taste.

The ingredients used for these differ on the resources available in the area it is made. In the Northern part of the Philippines, there’s Vigan longganisa which are small in size and very rich in garlic. In Bulacan province where my grandma is from, Calumpit (a town name) longganisa is flavored with equal parts of garlic and black peppers. There’s also Campampangan (from Pampanga province) that takes pride in their sweet style longganisa, which has the same flavor as their tocino.

I can go on and on about these yummy breakfast sausages, and when you finally try them, I’m sure you will add them to your breakfast repertoire. You can find them at your local Filipino stores or even order them online. In some cases, you can also make them at home, but that’s for another blog post.

The instructions are almost the same as cooking tocino (Filipino bacon).

Here are the steps to cooking these lovely sausages and ensuring maximum flavor.

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1. Boil

Start with a cup of water with the sausage and have your stove on high heat. Leave the sausage boiling for about 5 minutes. Longganisa varieties are commonly smaller than American or Italian style ones, so 5 minutes is plenty.

2. Drain

After boiling, drain the water and put back the pan on the stove.

3. Low heat, slow fry

This time you will need to lower the heat and put in a little bit of oil to start frying of the sausages.

4. Poke holes, then cut links

Then you will have to start poking holes in the sausages to render the fat from them. Depending on the sausage, some might squirt out excess juice, so be cautious when doing so. You may also start cutting the links at this point with kitchen shears. By this time the sausages have firmed enough in their casing and will not burst.

5. Cook until the desired doneness

Fry them a bit more until you see some charring on the sausages. If you have the sweet variety, you will see some gloss and caramelization. Don’t get weirded; the sugar is the one doing the browning. Plate and serve.

How to eat Longganisa?

For an absolutely authentic experience of this breakfast, eat them with rice and a fried egg. Locally we will call it LongSiLog which is jargon for the food combination of longganisa, sinangag (Fried Rice), and itlog (egg). Don’t forget the Filipino-style condiments like atchara (pickled papaya), cut-up tomatoes, or the simplest cane vinegar.

If you’re not into rice, no worries! Cut or crumble this yummy goodness and fill your favorite breakfast bread whether it be pandesal, an english muffin, or a bagel. You get the idea.

Bonus tip: Do NOT throw that grease away!

Depending on how much fat was rendered in these sausages, you may have some (or a lot of) grease sitting in your pan. Just like when you cook bacon, the grease contains a ton of flavor that will elevate your meal.

Leave a little bit of the grease in the pan and you can cook fried rice in it. Or, if your rice is freshly steamed, press the hot rice on the pan, leave for 5 minutes, and then slowly flip and mix in to get all that caramelized flavor.

If you’re like me who saves everything flavorful, you can keep the extra grease in the fridge and use them to stir-fry or roast vegetables on your next meal.

Hope you try and enjoy them! Let me know how it goes.