Smokie pasua

Ingredients

The sausages

• 4smokie sausages
• smoked beef sausages
• or good frankfurters
• kept hot

The kachumbari

• 3tomatoes, diced
• 1red onion, finely sliced
• 1green chilli, chopped
• chopped coriander
• dhania
• juice of 2 limes
• or lemons
• salt

To finish

• hot chilli sauce
• pili pili
• tomato sauce, optional
• a pinch of salt

To serve

• wrapped in paper
• eaten standing
• from a Nairobi street stand
• in the evening

Directions

1. Soak the sliced onion for about ten minutes. Then drain it and pat it reasonably dry. Heat them right through rather than merely warming. They should be genuinely hot in the centre. Keep them hot or keep them refrigerated. Wash the tomatoes and the coriander thoroughly. Use a clean board and a clean knife for them. Keep them away from anything raw and meaty.
2. Wash your hands thoroughly after chopping chillies. Never rub your eyes while working with them. Use a board you can wash properly afterward. Slice the red onion as thinly as you possibly can. Thin slices are far milder than thick ones.
3. Use a sharp knife or a mandolin for that. Take real care if you use a mandolin. Soak the sliced onion in cold water briefly. Ten minutes in cold water is quite enough.
4. Dice the tomatoes into small even pieces. About one centimetre is a reasonable size. Keep them even rather than uneven. Scoop the wet seeds out of the tomatoes. Use only the firm flesh for this filling. That keeps everything inside the sausage.
5. Chop the green chilli finely for the salad. Remove the seeds for a milder result. Leave them in for a genuinely hot filling. Chop it as finely as you reasonably can. Wash your hands thoroughly afterward. Combine the tomato, onion, chilli and coriander.
6. Toss them together gently in a bowl. Add the lime juice and a good pinch of salt. Toss it again so everything is dressed. Taste it and adjust the lime and salt. Chop the stalks as well as the leaves.
7. Make the kachumbari shortly before serving. Salt draws water out of tomatoes over time. Fifteen minutes ahead is about right. Drain off any liquid before filling the sausages. Keep the filling as dry as you reasonably can. Tip it into a sieve for a moment first.
8. Heat the smokies right through in simmering water. Bring a pan of water to a gentle simmer. Do not let it boil hard at any point. Lift the smokies out and pat them dry. Wet sausages make the paper wrapper soggy. Work quickly, since they must stay hot. Cut about two thirds of the way through. Leave the bottom third joined along the length. Cutting too deep splits it into two pieces.
9. Take a moment to judge it on the first one. Use a small sharp knife for the splitting. The sausage is hot, so hold it in a cloth. Cut away from your hand rather than toward it. Work carefully rather than quickly.
10. Pack the kachumbari into each split sausage. It should be visibly overflowing the split. Add chilli sauce and tomato sauce over the filling. Squeeze it along the length of the split. Do not skip it, since the filling is unsalted otherwise.
11. Wrap the filled smokie in paper to serve. Wrap it tightly around the middle. Hand it over hot and eat it immediately. Assemble each one to order rather than in advance. Assemble each one to order rather than in advance. The kachumbari keeps a day refrigerated. Drain it again before using it the next day.

Technique

• Smokies are sold precooked, so heat them right through rather than merely warming — they should be genuinely hot in the centre. Lukewarm cooked meat is where bacteria grow fastest, so keep them hot or keep them refrigerated and avoid the middle range.
• Split the sausage about two thirds of the way through, leaving the bottom third joined so it forms a pocket rather than two halves. Hold the hot sausage in a cloth, use a small sharp knife and cut away from your hand.
• The kachumbari is entirely raw: wash the tomatoes and coriander thoroughly and use a clean board and knife kept well away from raw meat. Wash your hands after chopping the chilli, since the oils burn eyes badly.

Substitutions

• Good frankfurters replace the Kenyan smokie reasonably well; smokies are usually beef or chicken and are sold precooked. Some Nairobi stands grill them instead of boiling, giving a charred skin and firmer texture — both are genuinely done, though boiling is more usual.
• Lemon replaces lime in the kachumbari. Tomato sauce alongside the chilli sauce is added by those who want it — ask rather than assuming.

Variations

• Slice the red onion as thinly as you can and soak it in cold water about ten minutes, then drain and pat it dry — that removes much of the raw pungency, and wet onion makes the filling watery.
• Scoop the seeds out of the tomatoes and use only the firm flesh diced small: seeds make the filling loose and watery, and large chunks fall straight out as you eat. Make the kachumbari only about fifteen minutes ahead, since salt draws water out and a standing salad goes limp, and drain it again before filling.
• Be generous with the filling so it visibly overflows the split, add chilli sauce along the length, and sprinkle a pinch of salt over — that salt is a genuine part of how it is served and the filling is otherwise unsalted. Wrap it in paper and eat it within a minute or two, since the kachumbari wilts in the heat of the sausage.

History

Sold from insulated hawker boxes on Nairobi streets; pasua is Swahili for split open.

Frequently asked questions

What is Smokie pasua?

Smokie pasua is a street food from Kenya: boiled sausage split lengthways and stuffed with kachumbari and chilli. Sold from insulated hawker boxes on Nairobi streets; pasua is Swahili for split open.

How long does Smokie pasua take to make?

Smokie pasua takes 20 minutes of preparation and 10 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes makes 4. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Smokie pasua?

Yes, within limits. Good frankfurters replace the Kenyan smokie reasonably well; smokies are usually beef or chicken and are sold precooked. Some Nairobi stands grill them instead of boiling, giving a charred skin and firmer texture — both are genuinely done, though boiling is more usual. Lemon replaces lime in the kachumbari. Tomato sauce alongside the chilli sauce is added by those who want it — ask rather than assuming.

What is the most important thing to get right in Smokie pasua?

Soak the sliced onion for about ten minutes. Then drain it and pat it reasonably dry. Heat them right through rather than merely warming. They should be genuinely hot in the centre. Keep them hot or keep them refrigerated. Wash the tomatoes and the coriander thoroughly. Use a clean board and a clean knife for them. Keep them away from anything raw and meaty.