Overview
Puerto Rican Longaniza is a long pork sausage seasoned with annatto, pimentón, oregano and garlic. It is strongly associated with rice dishes and roadside cooking in Puerto Rico.
Where it's from
The cut
Identity and terminology
Longaniza and chorizo overlap in island usage, but longaniza is typically longer and carries a characteristic annatto-orange colour. The Curesmith branch is cured fresh and cook-before-eating.
Composition and characteristics
Pork and fat are mixed with annatto, smoked and sweet pimentón, oregano, garlic and pepper. The filling is coarse, orange-red and highly aromatic.
Production and process
The sausage is cured under refrigeration, stuffed as a long rope or links and cooked by frying or simmering. Any smoking or short drying must be stated separately.
History and regional forms
Spanish longaniza was localised through Puerto Rican adobo, annatto and oregano. It became a valued flavouring for rice and a speciality associated with mountain and roadside food businesses.
Use, storage and related products
It is used in arroz con longaniza, fried with plantains or roots, and served in sandwiches. It differs from Dominican longaniza, which is led by sour orange, and from Puerto Rican chorizo.
Recipe and cure
This is not a finished recipe. It is a window into how this meat is traditionally cured. Before you follow any process, run it through one of our curing calculators so the salt, cure and timings are right and safe for your own batch.
Make this — the measured Curesmith version →“Make this” opens the same cure as a measured recipe, scaled to your batch.
- Meat
- Pork shoulder
- Cut
- Pork shoulder
- Salt (%)
- 1.8
- Curing salt
- Cure #1 as specified in the recipe
- Fermented
- No
- Smoked
- No
- Maturation
- Cured raw sausage ≤4°C for up to 3 days; freeze for longer storage
- Basis
- per 1,000 g pork shoulder
- Style
- Cured fresh Puerto Rican pork sausage; cook before eating
Ingredients
- Pork shoulder100% · 1000 g
- Pork back fat35% · 350 g
- Fine salt1.8% · 24 g
- Cure #1, 6.25% sodium nitrite0.24% · 3.5 g
- Ground black pepper0.2% · 2.5 g
- Sweet smoked pimentón0.49% · 6.5 g
- Hot smoked pimentón0.49% · 6.5 g
- Ground annatto0.5% · 5.5 g
- Rubbed oregano0.79% · 10.5 g
- Fresh garlic, crushed0.79% · 10.5 g
Method
- Chill pork, fat and equipment to 0–3°C.
- Grind shoulder and back fat through 8 mm.
- Mix pork with salt and Cure #1 until tacky, then add pepper, both pimentóns, annatto, oregano and garlic.
- Stuff firmly into 36 mm hog casings.
- Refrigerate for 12–24 hours at 2–4°C.
- Grill, fry or roast until the cold point reaches 71°C.
Safety. Curing colour does not indicate readiness. Keep refrigerated and cook according to the fresh branch.