Yucatan Style Homemade Longaniza

In my previous post, I talked about the similarities and differences between Mexican chorizos and longanizas, two types of sausage originally brought from Spain during colonial times.  In addition to the intrinsic differences between the two, recipes from one region to another may also produce very distinct results; since I have shared my recipe for chorizo from the Northern state of Coahuila, I chose a longaniza recipe inspired by flavours from the other end of Mexico, the Southern state of Yucatan.  As I have mentioned before, one of the most characteristic seasonings of the  Yucatan peninsula is recado rojo – red rub, which owes its bright colour to annatto seed.  Yucatan style longaniza is not that famous, but this recondite recipe includes all the flavours of recado rojo, and brings them to another level with the addition of guajillo peppers.

Yucatan Style Homemade Longaniza–

Longaniza casera estilo yucateco

Ingredients

1 ½ lb pork shoulder
1 tsp coarse salt, such as Kosher
2 guajillo peppers; wiped clean, stems and seeds removed
Water, as needed
¼ tsp dry Mexican oregano or marjoram
¼ tsp ground black pepper
¼ tsp ground cumin
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/8 tsp ground all-spice
½ tsp annatto powder
2 cloves garlic; peeled
¼ cup apple cider vinegar
¼ onion; peeled and cut into chunks

For casing:  cheesecloth and kitchen string*

Measure and set aside all the spices and garlic:

Place clean guajillo peppers in a small pot and cover with water; bring to boil over high heat:

Cook for a couple of minutes, remove from heat and allow to soak for ten minutes.   Place peppers and a quarter of a cup of the soaking water in a blender jar.  Add onion, vinegar, and the reserved garlic and spices (photo below, left); blend until smooth (photo below, right):

Set aside.  Pat meat with a paper towel, then cut into small pieces, while removing tendon and other fibrous tissue, but leaving some of the fat on:

Discard fibrous tissue, then chop meat with fat, until coarsely minced.  Sprinkle with salt, and mix thoroughly with the meat:

Add reserved condiment paste:

Mix until all the meat is perfectly coated with the paste (use two spoons or by hand, with food-grade gloves on).   Prepare two pieces of cheese cloth, three or four single layers of mesh each, approximately 12X6 inches, and four pieces of kitchen string cut long enough to tie the ends:

Work with one piece of cloth and half the meat at a time, placing the meat along the cloth, and pressing firmly with gloved hands to form a log.  Leave one-inch edges at either end of the cloth without meat.  Wrap log with cheese cloth as tight as possible without squeezing, and tie ends with string, to form a long sausage about ten inches long.  Repeat with second cloth and the rest of the meat:

Place longaniza rolls on a tray and allow to rest in the fridge, uncovered, at least overnight, or up to three days:

After two days in the fridge, I unrolled one of the longanizas:

I wrapped the second sausage with Aluminium foil and put it in the freezer for a future recipe.  From the open one, I fried some in one tablespoon of oil, breaking it into pieces to prepare stand-style tacos, on corn tortillas, topped with cilantro, onions and either red or green hot sauce, with the required lime on the side (also pictured at the top of the post): 

Resisting the urges to take a peek or cook the longaniza right away paid off, as it may be appreciated in its raw appearance before and after resting, and certainly the longaniza in tacos had a wonderful range of well melded flavours. 

I cooked the rest on an iron skillet with some oil, charring the outside to get a slight smoky flavour.  In Yucatan, smoked longaniza, cased in natural tripe, is grilled and served with lettuce, cucumbers, red onions and chiltomate (recipe below):

Chiltomate

Printable recipe: Chiltomate

Ingredients

2 tomatoes; washed
2 habanero peppers, or to taste; washed
½ cup sour orange juice (or ¼ cup orange juice, ¼ cup vinegar and a squirt of lime juice)
½ tsp salt, or to taste

Roast tomatoes and peppers on a dry skillet (no oil); allow the vegetables to char all around.  Remove stem ends from peppers and tomatoes, then place in a blender jar; add juice and salt and process until smooth.

Another classic way to prepare longaniza is in green sauce, as pictured below (click here for my recipe):

*Culinary scuttlebutt:  Using cheese cloth instead of casing worked for my small batch (about 1 1/4 pounds of meat after cleaning and chopping), but it would be a non-sense hardihood for larger quantities; for anything bigger than the batch in this recipe, it would be better and more cost effective to find natural tripe casing (see comparison below: the cheese cloth package would be enough for around 4-5 lb of meat, while for the same price, the tripe would be enough for 20-25 lb).  In addition, having the longaniza cased in tripe would also allow for smoking and/or cooking on a charcoal grill, and the sausages would have a more attractive, smooth finish.  If using tripe, choose the smallest diameter available, such as the 32 mm pictured below; before using, soak in a solution of 20% vinegar in water, then rinse with water and dry.  When casing the meat by hand, people use funnels, attaching the tripe to the bottom and feeding the meat from the top; an ingenious device is an improvised funnel made from slicing off the top of a large plastic soda bottle, attaching the tripe to the cap end, and feeding the meat from the cut side.

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I am sharing my recipe at Over the Moon #247, graciously hosted by Bev @ Eclectic Red Barn, and Marilyn @ Marilyn’s Treats.