Haitian spaghetti

Ingredients

Pasta

• 400 gspaghetti
• salt for the water

Meat

• 6hot dogs, sliced on the diagonal
• or 200 g smoked herring, deboned and flaked
• or both

Epis

• 3 tbspepis, the Haitian green seasoning base
• or blend together: 1 bunch parsley, 6 spring onions, 1 green pepper, 8 cloves garlic, 1 onion, thyme, 2 tbsp oil, juice of 1 lime

Also

• 1onion, sliced
• 1green pepper, sliced
• 3 tbsptomato paste
• 1scotch bonnet, whole
• 3 tbspoil
• 1stock cube
• black pepper

To serve

• hot, for breakfast, with bread and hot chocolate or coffee

Directions

1. Blend all the epis ingredients into a coarse green paste, which keeps two weeks refrigerated. Make more than you need, since it improves anything it goes into and it keeps well. Cook the spaghetti in well salted water for a minute or two beyond the packet time.
2. Drain it and keep a cup of the cooking water. Rinsing it briefly is common here and stops it clumping while everything else is prepared. Fry the hot dog slices in oil until they brown at the edges and curl. Brown them properly rather than just warming them, since the caramelised edges are a large part of the flavour.
3. Lift them out and set them aside. Fry the sliced onion and green pepper in the same oil until softened. Add the tomato paste and fry it for three or four minutes until it darkens and loses its raw edge. Now add the epis and cook it for two or three minutes.
4. Cook the epis in the oil rather than stirring it in raw, which mellows the garlic and releases the herbs. Add the stock cube and black pepper. Drop it in whole and unbroken, which gives the fruity aroma of the pepper without the full heat.
5. Take it out before serving, and do not let it burst in the pan unless you want the dish genuinely fierce. Add a splash of the pasta water to loosen everything into a sauce. Toss it with tongs until every strand is coated and orange from the tomato and epis.
6. Let it fry for a few minutes in the pan. Letting it sit against the hot pan is deliberate, since a slightly fried, faintly crisp edge to some of the strands is part of the character.
7. Return the hot dogs and toss them through. Taste and season, and add more epis if it tastes flat. Serve it hot for breakfast, with bread on the side.

Technique

• It is genuinely a breakfast dish in Haiti.
• Epis, the green seasoning base, is what defines it.
• The pasta is deliberately cooked soft rather than al dente.

Substitutions

• Smoked herring in place of hot dogs, which is equally traditional.
• Any sausage in place of hot dogs.

Variations

• Made with smoked herring, which is saltier and stronger.
• With both herring and hot dogs.
• Made vegetarian, with epis and peppers alone.

Frequently asked questions

What is Haitian spaghetti?

Haitian spaghetti is a breakfast from Haiti: spaghetti fried with hot dogs and epis seasoning for breakfast.

How long does Haitian spaghetti take to make?

Haitian spaghetti takes 15 min of preparation and 20 min of cooking. The recipe makes 4 servings. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Haitian spaghetti?

Yes, within limits. Smoked herring in place of hot dogs, which is equally traditional. Any sausage in place of hot dogs.

What is the most important thing to get right in Haitian spaghetti?

Drain it and keep a cup of the cooking water. Rinsing it briefly is common here and stops it clumping while everything else is prepared. Fry the hot dog slices in oil until they brown at the edges and curl. Brown them properly rather than just warming them, since the caramelised edges are a large part of the flavour.