A Longganisa Experiment: The Long and Short Of It
July 20, 2008
One of my favorite things to eat for breakfast is longganisa. But not just any longganisa. I want the spicy, salty ones. I want to taste the garlic and I want what Marketman terms as “longganisa burps“. Whenever I go to Manila, I make it a point to buy Vigan longganisa or Lucban longganisa at the Lung Center Sunday market. I also go for the ones which come from Guinobatan, Albay. But sourcing the ones I like are a problem as I can only buy so much when I go to Manila (I am feeling the economic crunch here) and Guinobatan is too far from here. What’s a girl to do?
Well, the solution really is simple. Make my own longganisa. First, I scoured the internet, looking for that one recipe which will leap out from the screen at me. Most use preservatives. Pinoycook has one but it uses too many ingredients for me. Besides, I want a true blue longganisa, not a naked one which will just break apart when being cooked.
Enter O, a former officemate. Like a true blue Ilocano, O’s family used to make their own longganisa. So we exchanged tips and I came up with this recipe:
1 kilo ground pork with some fat
pig intestines
About 7-9 bulbs native garlic, minced (I like it garlicky)
3-5 tbsps. black pepper, ground (I like lots of black pepper)
3 tbsps salt 8-12 tbsps. vinegar (preferably the spiced one)
Mix the ingredients well.
Scoop up a spoonful and fry. Taste and adjust the seasonings. Place the meat inside the intestines. I used a cake decorator with the tips removed to put the meat in.
Make sure that most of the air is gone before tying securely the links. A little squeeze here and there to let out the air and then jam the meat back to the desired link size.
Store in the freezer for about 3 days to cure the meat then cook with a little oil. I had to use oil when cooking it as I used just a little fat, about 10-15% of the meat.
I was so pleased with the results that I had longganisa for my lunch the next day. It was very good.
The intestine was already clean when I bought it but I cleaned it up again just to make sure. I turned it inside out and then scraped the inside with a spoon and let water run thru it several times. As I don’t think you can buy pig intestines with just the tube itself, you are left with that thingie that holds the tube together. I think it’s called omentum. What to do with it after you finished with the tube? Make chicharon bulaklak of course!
Predictions
July 12, 2008
Photo source:http://ecommons.library.cornell.edu
In college, for kicks, I would look at a classmate, point a finger at her and omniously tell her: “You will be called to recite in class today”. and sure enough, she’d get called. I don’t claim to be a psychic. It’s just that I know that the professor knows her dad and he always calls on her for recitation. But my classmate would always get paranoid and would ask me before class if she would be called to recite. When I’m not in the mood, I’d tell her “no” and sure enough, she wouldn’t be called. Sometimes, when I said she won’t be called but she was, she’d look at me accusingly and ask why. I’d say “Oh my powere are off today. hehe”. I have to say those happened rarely. Generally, I had a pretty decent level of accuracy.
During the same school year, we had a professor who, when I say she wouldn’t attend classes, wouldn’t really attend class. Even though her car is in the parking lot. And she is already in the faculty room. And I have won several bets from my classmates on that (they got wise later and refuse to bet on it). My secret? I knew that when it’s raining, the professor would be too lazy to come to class. Baka dumami pa eh
Virgin No More II: The Results
July 10, 2008
Lunchbox Pic
July 8, 2008It’s been so long since I posted a pic of my lunch, I kinda miss it. This was my lunch yesterday:
It consisted of fried sinaing na tulingan, fried ripe saba bananas and some cherry tomatoes from the backyard. The bananas came from the backyard too.
A Virgin No More
July 6, 2008A baking virgin that is.
While I like puttering in the kitchen, I’ve avoided baking. High school Home Economics doesn’t count as we’ve always baked in groups. I managed to avoid doing some actual work during high school Home Economics as there’s always an anal retentive groupmate who would take over once the baking starts. Result, I never learned to bake on my own. Until today.
I like breads and I love the thought of me making one. But the kneading of the dough, while described as a relaxing activity, turns me off. The mere idea of wrestling with dough while in a hot kitchen doesn’t bring on happy thoughts. Until today.
I discovered via Chicajo’s blog a way to make easy, sweat-free, no fuss bread. It’s called No Knead Bread. As the name says, there is no need to knead the dough. Armed with the recipe, I embarked on new territory. Results next
