Sweet Sausage
Ingredients
½ cup white sugar
4 ½ teaspoons fine salt
1 teaspoon dried oregano
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
½ teaspoon curing salt (Prague powder #1)
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
2 pounds ground pork
1 pound coarse ground pork back fat
1 tablespoon minced garlic
¼ cup distilled white vinegar
hog casing, rinsed well
Instructions
Stir sugar, salt, oregano, black pepper, curing salt, and ginger together in a small bowl until combined; set aside.
Combine ground pork, ground pork fat, and garlic in a large bowl; sprinkle with sugar mixture. Pour in vinegar; mix thoroughly.
Rinse hog casing very well until all salt or brine is gone; tie a knot at one end of the casing, then thread the other end onto a sausage stuffing tube. Stuff the casing with the pork sausage mixture, twisting the filled casing every 2 1/2 to 4 inches to form links. Once all sausage mixture has been used, tie a knot at the end of the last link.
Tie ends of each sausage link tightly using fine cotton kitchen twine, then cut between each link to separate. Transfer links to a glass or plastic container. Cover; allow to mature in the refrigerator for 4 days, after which point they may be frozen.
To cook longanisa, fill a skillet with 1/2 to 3/4 inches water; add thawed sausage links. Simmer over medium-high heat until water evaporates, about 20 minutes. Uncover, and allow sausages to fry in their own fat until golden brown, about 8 minutes more.