Longaniza dominicana

Ingredients

Sausage

• 1 kgpork shoulder, coarsely minced
• 250 gpork back fat, chopped small
• 2 tbspdried oregano, crumbled
• 1whole head garlic, crushed to a paste
• 150 mlsour orange juice, or 100 ml orange juice with 50 ml lime juice
• 1 tbspsalt
• 2 tspblack pepper
• 1 tspground annatto, for colour
• 2m natural hog casing, rinsed and soaked

To serve

• tostones or yuca
• lime wedges and pickled onion

Directions

1. Mix the pork, fat, oregano, garlic, sour orange, salt, pepper and annatto thoroughly with your hands. Cover and refrigerate for 24 hours — the sour orange is doing real work here, acidifying the meat and carrying the oregano and garlic through it.
2. Fry a spoonful the next day and taste. Dominican longaniza should taste emphatically of oregano and garlic; if it is subtle, add more of both.
3. Fill the soaked casing loosely and twist into sausages about 12 cm long, tying the ends. Prick each once.
4. Leave uncovered in the fridge for a few hours so the surface dries.
5. Put the sausages in a wide pan with a splash of water and cook covered over medium-low heat for 15 minutes, so they steam through. Then take the lid off and let the water boil away.
6. Once the pan is dry the sausages will begin frying in their own rendered fat. Turn them for another 10 to 15 minutes until deep brown and crisp all over — this is how longaniza is cooked at a Dominican highway stand, and it needs no added oil at all.
7. Serve hot with tostones, lime and pickled onion.

Technique

• A whole head of garlic and two tablespoons of oregano is correct. This is a loud sausage and a restrained version is not the same thing.
• The steam-then-fry method is the point. Fried from raw, the outside burns before the middle is done; steamed first, it cooks through and then crisps in its own fat.
• This is a fresh sausage. Refrigerate and eat within two days, or freeze.

Substitutions

• Bitter orange juice, if you can find it, which is what sour orange means.
• Sweet paprika for the annatto, which colours similarly.

Variations

• Sliced into rounds and fried for a breakfast plate with mangú and fried cheese.
• The Villa Mella version is coarser and even heavier on oregano.

History

Cured in Dominican kitchens and sold at highway stands, especially along the road to Villa Mella and Bonao.

Frequently asked questions

What is Longaniza dominicana?

Longaniza dominicana is a charcuterie & cured from Dominican Republic: coarse pork sausage heavy with oregano and sour orange, fried in its own fat. Cured in Dominican kitchens and sold at highway stands, especially along the road to Villa Mella and Bonao.

How long does Longaniza dominicana take to make?

Longaniza dominicana takes 40 min plus 24 hours resting of preparation and 30 min of cooking. The recipe makes makes 12 sausages, serves 6. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Longaniza dominicana?

Yes, within limits. Bitter orange juice, if you can find it, which is what sour orange means. Sweet paprika for the annatto, which colours similarly.

What is the most important thing to get right in Longaniza dominicana?

The steam-then-fry method is the point. Fried from raw, the outside burns before the middle is done; steamed first, it cooks through and then crisps in its own fat.