Longganisa Sliders

🎶Basically I’m saying either way we ’bout to slide… 🎶 Get ready to slide some deelicious sweet, garlicky sausage sliders into your mouth! Longganisa is a popular Filipino breakfast sausage that’s often eaten with garlic rice (singangag) and a fried egg (itlog) to create the classic dish longsilog. And while longsilog is my absolute favorite breakfast dish, I love breaking from tradition with longganisa sliders!

Since longganisa is typically eaten with rice, the first time I ever encountered longganisa in a bun was at the Great GoogaMooga back in 2012 (who remembers that festival?). My favorite Filipino restaurant Maharlika (which recently closed for good 😭) served longganisa in a hot dog bun with a gingery pickled papaya & carrot slaw (atchara) and a mayo infused with a salty fermented shrimp paste (bagoong) that was AMAZING. Their sister restaurant Jeepney (which is still open but only for delivery/pickup in these crazy COVID times so PLEASE go support and #SaveJeepney!) then opened soon after, becoming famous for their Chori Burger which topped a longganisa patty with a fried egg and banana ketchup – a unique Filipino condiment that turns mashed bananas, vinegar, and spices into a sweet, ketchup-like condiment that is strange in concept but so good with longganisa and especially crispy SPAM and eggs.

However, my most recent encounter with longganisa in a bun proved to be my favorite of the lot and the inspiration behind this recipe. The longganisa sliders from the acclaimed Ma’am Sir in Los Angeles are the perfect little package of Filipino goodness. Their juicy, bright red hued patties are topped with a garlic mayo and pickled atchara, all inside squishy Hawaiian rolls. It serves as almost a golden ratio of sweet, savory, acidic, and garlicky flavors, and their small size makes them easier to eat than a burger but without compromising on taste.

In trying to recreate those longganisa sliders for my live cooking demo on Instagram with Nom Life, I knew I wanted to simplify the recipe so it would be easier to make at home. That meant changing the atchara since it uses harder-to-find papaya and typically has to pickle for 5 days. Instead, I used cole slaw coated in a slightly sweet, gingery vinegar mix to mimic the flavors of atchara but with more readily available ingredients. Vinegar is also the ultimate companion to longganisa since it balances out the rich, often fatty sausage.

That said, when making it at home you can control how fatty you want to make it – I used a lean ground pork for the sake of my health. This style of longganisa, called longganisa hamonado, is also typically bright red in hue thanks to the use of achuete or annatto powder, a somewhat unknown spice that’s actually very commonly used as natural food color in everything from cheddar cheese to cereal. While those items use small amounts of the ground up seeds to turn things yellow or orange, the combination of a fair amount of achuete and smoked paprika are what give longganisa its distinct red color. But if you can’t find achuete, don’t sweat it since its primarily just for color – its nutty, peppery flavor is very subtle and similar to paprika, so it won’t significantly impact the overall flavor of the sausage if you skip the achuete.

Have fun playing around with the ratios of ingredients in your longganisa to make the sausage that best suits your own taste. You can also use whatever type of soft, squishy bun might be available, though I’ve included my recommendations below.