FILIPINO FRIDAYS : LongSilog Loco Moco with Roasted Garlic Gravy

It would be completely wrong of me to talk about brunch and Filipino food in the same breath without mentioning the ultimate Filipino brunch meal – Longsilog.

LongSilog: A Filipino fusion word that consist of three parts:

Longganisa, a sweet Filipino sausage
Garlic Fried Rice
Fried Egg

This meal is predominantly eaten for breakfast or brunch and is a staple in a Filipino household. These three components work amazing together because you get that sweetness + fat from the pork sausage, texture + aromatics from those bits of fried garlic in the rice, and a nice sauce from the runny fried egg. Those flavor profiles are embedded in my taste buds, so while contemplating what savory dish to add to my Easter Brunch week it only made sense to recreate my favorite Filipino dish but remix it in a way that felt more accessible.

Loco Moco: A Hawaiian dish that consists of rice, topped with a hamburger patty, fried egg, then smothered in gravy. While I’ve never been to Hawaii, I did grow up going to my local Kings Hawaiian restaurant back home and enjoyed an authentic plateful there! (that was a small plug because they’re a Torrance based company + should consider partnering with me!) But it’s Hawaiian comfort food at it’s finest and this concept parallels the components of LongSilog perfectly.

To refrain from actually having to make sausages, I turned my longganisa meat into patties and pan fried them. This saved time, and I promise you, it tasted just as delicious. And that garlic fried rice? I opted to take that delicious garlicyness I love, and infuse it right into an easy homemade gravy. So not only does it stay true to the LongSilog flavor profiles, but it makes the dish that much more indulgent while creating layers of flavor through every bite.

I hope you love my remix on this Filipino classic!

LONGGANISA

PREP: 1 DAY | COOK: 35 MINUTES | YIELDS: 6 SERVINGS

1 Lbs of Ground Pork
5 Large Garlic Cloves
½ Cup Brown Sugar
½ Tbsp. black pepper
2 Tsp. Garlic Powder
1 Tsp. Onion Powder
4 Tsp. Achuete / Annatto Powder
1 Tbsp. Flour
1 Tbsp. Salt
2 Tbsp. Vinegar (I used Datu Puti)

Brown Sugar, Achuete + Garlic. Key components to making the perfect longganisa

HOW TO:

Prepare your longganisa patties by combining your ground pork, dry ingredients, and vinegar.
Mince your garlic cloves, them mix them into the meat thoroughly
Cover bowl and let it sit in the fridge over night. You want to mix the meat the night before you cook it off to allow all the flavor to marinate into the meat.
Before cooking these off, form your patties
I like to make mine a touch wider than my palm, since they will shrink a bit in size, and I like to keep them somewhat thinner so it cooks evenly
On a medium-high heat and a bit of oil in your pan (I guesstimate around ½ tablespoon for 2 patties) start cooking off your patties.
Cook for about 6-7 minutes on one side. When you flip it, it should have a nice caramelized crust on the exterior. Do the same on the other side.
To ensure doneness I throw in two teaspoons of water into the pan and tent it (be careful when you do this splatter and steam will happen rapidly) for an additional 4 minutes.

The Achuete powder will make the meat naturally red, which is what you want for an authentic Longganisa

ROASTED GARLIC GRAVY

PREP: 40 MINUTES | COOK : 25 MINUTES | YIELDS: 1 CUP

6 Cloves of Garlic
5 Tbsp. Unsalted Butter
3 Tbsp. All-Purpose Flour
1 Small bouillon Cube (Beef or Chicken)
1 ½ Cups of Hot Water
Freshly Cracked Black Pepper to Taste

HOW TO:

Preheat Oven to 400 degrees
Take your cloves of garlic, create a aluminum foil purse and place them in it. Give them a light drizzle of olive oil before closing up, and place on your oven rack for about 35 minutes. You want the garlic cloves to mash up easily with a fork when they’re done. If this doesn’t happen, close the aluminum foil back up and let them roast for another 5-10 minutes.
In the meantime, Measure out 1 ½ cups of hot water, and throw in your bouillon cube and let it dissolve completely and set aside
Once your garlic is roasted, on medium-high heat melt your butter.
Mash up your garlic and throw it into the melted butter
Lower your heat a touch, and let this meld together for five minutes before you throw in your flour
Slowly incorporate your flour until it becomes a smooth consistency
Then slowly add in your stock, constantly stirring ensuring the flour butter base combines with the stock
Once your stock is all incorporated, you should have a gravy like consistency in your pot. Keep stirring for an additional 5-10 minutes so that some of the liquid cooks off and it thickens a touch more.

THE ASSEMBLY:

Take whatever rice of your choosing (we use Nishiki or Calrose) and create a nest on the plate
Place your longganisa sausage on top of the rice
Finish your stack with a fried egg
Then pour the gravy over top!
For a finishing touch and completely optional, garnish with sliced green onions, or freshly cracked black pepper!