Ground chicken breast meat is mixed with seasonings and spices, shaped into sausages, chilled, fried and served with rice, tomato salad and achara. Perfect breakfast!
Cook’s notes
Why chicken breast meat?
Because I made these sausages for my older daughter, Sam, who prefers white over red meat. Because breast meat is much too lean, I added oil to the mixture because without it, the chicken meat would not have softened sufficiently and Sam would have gotten dry and dense longganisa. It was a tablespoon and a half of oil on my first try, but that wasn’t enough to moisten the meat so I had to double the amount the next time.Spices and seasonings
The basic salt and pepper, and a bit of sugar for balance. Annatto powder for color and, for depth, garlic and onion. We are not fans of sweet longganisa here at home. We prefer them garlicky and salty. The small amount of sugar in the ingredients list is just to create a more balanced overall flavor. If you prefer your longganisa sweet, double or triple the amount of sugar. Note, however, that because sugar burns fast, you will need to be extra vigilant during frying to make sure the sausages do not burn in the pan. I prefer dried garlic and onion for making longganisa because the water content of their fresh counterparts will just make the longganisa too wet which is not a good thing for frying. The water will just create unnecessary steam inside the sausages which can cause them to split apart during frying. And the oil spatter… Oh, my goodness, I can live without that.Chill before frying
To form and shape the longganisa, I used cling wrap which I cut into pieces. The sausages were chilled before they were cut into shorter lengths and fried. To firm up the mixture and allow it to retain its shape. At room temperature, the chicken mixture is simply difficult to handle. After chilling, the oil in the mixture has bound the chicken meat, spices and seasonings into a solid mass. Cutting and handling is easy.Skinless chicken longganisa
Ingredients
Skinless chicken longganisa mix
- 350 grams ground chicken breast meat (about 12 oz.)
- 1 teaspoon dried minced garlic
- 2 tablespoons dried minced onion
- 1½ teaspoons rock salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon annatto (atsuwete) powder or substitute paprika
- 1½ teaspoons brown sugar
- 2 to 3 tablespoons cooking oil
To cook and serve
- cooking oil for frying
- cooked rice to serve
- tomato salad (optional)
- achara (optional)
Instructions
Make the skinless chicken longganisa mix
- Place the ground chicken in a mixing bowl.
- Add the rest of the ingredients for the mix.
- Stir everything together until the coloring looks even.
Shape the skinless chicken longganisa
- Cut a square piece of cling film and lay flat on your work surface.
- Place about one-fourth cup of the skinless chicken longganisa mix at the center and spread to form a log.
- Lift the edge of the cling film nearest you and cover the chicken mixture.
- Roll into a log as tightly as you can about an inch and a half in diameter. Double check that there are no air pockets in the chicken mixture after rolling.
- Tuck in the sides of the cling film to fully seal the chicken mixture.
- Repeat until all the chicken mixture has been shaped and rolled.
- Chill the skinless chicken longganisa in the fridge for at least two hours (overnight works best).
Fry and serve the skinless chicken longganisa
- In a frying pan, heat enough cooking oil to reach a depth of at least two inches.
- Take the skinless chicken longganisa out of the fridge and cut each log into three to four portions before peeling off the cling film.
- Fry the chicken longganisa over medium-high heat, rolling the sausages in hot oil for even cooking.
- Serve immediately with rice and optional side dishes.
General Tso’s chicken