Kenyan Love Triangle - Samosas at Monique’s Hot Kitchen
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When I was a kid living in Kenya I learned to love street food. It wasn’t intentional; I was just always drawn to local food from street-side shacks, kiosks, markets or wherever I saw something bubbling in a dented pot or sizzling over an open flame. And one of my favorite things were samosas, which I would often buy after school from a woman under a tin-roofed shack near a bus stop in Nairobi. While samosas may have originated in India centuries ago, in Kenya they have evolved into their own unique version with only mild resemblance to their sub-continental origin. These seemingly simple triangles of thin fried dough — wrapped tight to envelop a filling of ground lamb cooked with local spices — were things of beauty in my young culinary life. They left me with an indelible and haunting taste which I prize over all other samosas and still crave to this day. I’m not exaggerating when I say that since those boyhood days in East Africa I have compared every samosa I've ever eaten to the flavor profile of the ones from Kenya — and have never been able to replace it. Until I walked into Spice Bridge in Tukwila, Washington.
Tukwila is a working suburb next to Seattle’s Sea-Tac International Airport. As a traveler trying to catch a flight you might drive right by without noticing it — a strip of stores, garages, gas stations and a new town center that forms the core of this largely minority and immigrant area. And that is where you find Spice Bridge, a global food hall housing four semi-makeshift stalls where, on a rotating basis, immigrant women cook the food of their cultures from a shared kitchen. Established by the Food Innovation Network, a community-based non-profit with a mission to support immigrant and refugee people in the food industry, Spice Bridge provides a home to cooks who wouldn’t otherwise be able to open their own restaurants. One of those unsung kitchen masters is Monique Wachira, who cooks the food of her Kenyan home in Monique’s Hot Kitchen. And it was there that I found, among other imperishable dishes, samosas of her homeland, with the flavors and texture that immediately transported me back to the brittle grass and red soil of my childhood paradise.
Monique Wachira and her amazing samosas.
Monique, who came to the US from Kenya several years ago, cooks with the pride and love of a Kenyan who cherishes the flavors of home. She cooks in honor of her 14 member family living back in Kenya, making dishes to reflect those she grew up with. And her samosas hit that magic mark like no others. The filling is all about meat, though she uses beef rather than the typical lamb. Flavors of coriander and cumin mingle with the finely ground beef, chilis and cilantro, highlighted by a touch of garam masala which pulls everything together. The skins are bronzed, flat and dense, not thick and doughy as Indian samosas often are. And with the first bite of one of those little triangles of love, through quivering lips and teeth carefully breaking the delicate crispy surface, the unmistakable flavors of home shine through, with savory aromas, bright herbs and nibbling spiciness. A squeeze of lime on top sends it all the way home. For me, it was the embodiment of that know-it-when-you-taste-it food magic — that Anton Ego effect of youth unexpectedly rushing back. Like a forgotten fragrance or long-lost song, just one bite and I was instantly back in the childhood place where I discovered the wonder of food.
And it tastes as good now as it did then.
Monique's Hot Kitchen, Spice Bridge Global Food Hall
14200 Tukwila International Blvd 141 SEATTLE, WA
