Longaniza is a Dominican sausage that’s to die for! It’s hands down one of my favorite things. It’s a classic late night drunk food that’s known to be a weakness of mine. I can have this guilty pleasure day or night regardless of the occasion. This sausage is specially made and slightly salty, which for me is the best part. You typically enjoy this with other fried foods like Tostones and Carne Frita and of course, we a classic Dominican Cabbage Salad that’s been sitting in vinegar. It honestly doesn’t get better than Fried Longaniza after a long night of hanging out.
Now you typically get Longaniza from a Chimi Truck aka a Dominican Food Truck but I grew up eating this on the weekends. My grandmother would make this as dinner on a Saturday night along with Chicharrones de Pollo, Fried Salami, Batata Frita, and even Mofongo! I honestly never realized how spoiled I was until I grew up and would go to the Chimi Truck to get my fix of Frituras— Dominican Fried Foods. I grew up eating this goodness right in my house!
As I got older, I also realized that making frituras was becoming a lost art amongst younger Dominicans learning how to cook. Sure we’d all learn how to make Moro and Pollo Guisado, but there was still a mystery around cult favorites like Carne Frita and Chimichurris. (Not the Argentinian kind, The Dominican Burger kind!) At a distance, these guilty pleasures seem much harder to make than they are. Nonetheless, it’s important to note that many of these Dominican Street Food Staples are actually simple to make and cheap to produce. It’s why you can find them in abundance on food trucks. The trick is knowing how to make them and more importantly how to fry them.
For the most part, Dominicans typically boil their meat before frying them. It allows for the meat to keep its juice before dumping it straight into the oil. It also allows for things to cook through fully and not get super soaked with oil. Longaniza is no different. The key is to boil it for 25-30 minutes before cutting it up to fry it. In the end, you only fry the Longaniza for a few minutes until it gets its quintessential reddish-brown color. Note that it’s best to boil the Longaniza first before frying it. If you fry the Longaniza raw, you run the risk of the Longaniza falling apart while frying. Cutting the Longaniza raw into pieces before frying is also really tricky. In the end, the hardest part about making Longaniza is finding a store that actually sells Dominican Longaniza!
If you’d like to see an easy-to-follow step-by-step tutorial on How to Make Dominican Fried Longaniza then head on over to my YouTube Channel: Chef Zee Cooks!
Also, don’t forget to Pin this pure deliciousness to your Pinterest Boards!
And now for the recipe….
Ingredients
- 1 Dominican Longaniza *amount up to you
- 4 cups of Water
- Canola, Corn, or Vegetable Oil for Frying
Instructions
- Wash Longaniza with white vinegar and cold water. Gently massage Longaniza and let it sit in water-vinegar mixture for 5-10 mins
- Rinse Longaniza with cold water
- Place Longaniza into a pot and add 4 cups of water or until Longaniza is covered completely
- Boil over medium heat for 25-30mins
- Remove sausage and place onto cutting board
- Cut Longaniza into 3inch pieces. Feel free to cut to whatever size you wish, just make sure not to cut them too small
- Heat up frying oil until it gets really hot-- roughly 350 degrees
- CAREFULLY place Longaniza into oil
- Stir after about 30 seconds. Fry Longaniza until they become reddish- brown color
- Enjoy with Tostones, Batata, Fries or any side dish of your choice!
Notes
It's best to boil Longaniza first before frying them. If you fry them raw, they will have the tendency to fall apart while frying.