Chicken Suya
Aperçu
Suya is skewered meat coated in yaji, a dry peanut based spice blend, and it is the best known street food in Nigeria. It comes from the Hausa people of the north, where it is also called tsire, and it spread from there across West Africa. Sudan has a close relative in agashe. Yaji is what makes it suya rather than grilled meat. The blend is built on ground peanut, usually in the form of kuli kuli crushed to a powder, with ginger, chilli, onion powder and other seasonings, and the peanut is what gives suya its particular nuttiness and the slightly gritty coating that clings to the meat. Meat without yaji is not suya, whatever else is done to it. Beef and ram are the traditional cuts, along with kidney, liver and tripe, and chicken is the newer arrival that has become common. It is sold at night from roadside grills, cut on a board and handed over in newspaper with sliced raw onion, tomato and cabbage, and the raw onion alongside the hot spice is not a garnish but part of how it is eaten. The one thing worth knowing before making it is that yaji contains peanut, which matters to anyone with an allergy.
Note de Patrimoine AFN
Suya, also called tsire, originated among the Hausa of northern Nigeria and spread across West Africa. It is defined by yaji, a dry spice blend built on ground peanut. The closely related dish in Sudan is known as agashe.
Ingrédients
Les mentions alimentaires sont fournies par les contributeurs à titre indicatif. Elles ne sont pas vérifiées par AFN et dépendent des produits que vous achetez. En cas d’allergie grave, vérifiez vous-même chaque ingrédient. Cuisine, allergies et votre propre jugement
Préparation
- 1
Cut the chicken into drumettes and winglets, pat dry with a kitchen towel and transfer to a bowl.
- 2
Add salt, bouillon powder and suya spice to the wings and mix until well coated.
- 3
Cover with cling film and leave to marinate in a cool place for at least 30 minutes. Longer is better, and up to 24 hours in the fridge is fine.
- 4
While the wings marinate, mix more suya spice with vegetable oil in a small bowl to make a basting marinade.
- 5
Preheat the grill or oven to 180°C and line a baking tray with foil, then set a rack on it.
- 6
Arrange the chicken wings on the rack with room between them so they cook evenly.
- 7
Brush the chicken with the oil and spice marinade and grill or bake for 15 minutes.
- 8
Take it out, turn the pieces, brush on more marinade, and return for another 15 minutes.
- 9
Turn once more, brush on the remaining marinade and grill for a final 15 minutes.
- 10
Transfer to a bowl and sprinkle over more suya spice.
- 11
Serve with sliced onions, tomatoes and salad.
Notes de l’Africook
Notes personnelles de Nympha Nzeribe- Pat the chicken completely dry before the spice goes on. Yaji sticks to dry meat and slides off wet meat.
- Marinate for as long as you can. Thirty minutes works; overnight in the fridge is noticeably better.
- Dust with extra yaji after cooking as well as before. That final layer is what suya sellers do and it is where a lot of the flavour sits.
- Use a rack rather than sitting the chicken on the tray, so air circulates and the pieces dry rather than stew in their own juices.
- Serve the raw onion alongside without fail. It is not a garnish, and the sharpness against the spice is part of how suya is eaten.
- Yaji is peanut based, so this is not safe for anyone with a peanut allergy.
Questions fréquentes
What is yaji and can I buy it?
Yaji is the dry spice blend that defines suya: ground peanut, usually crushed kuli kuli, with ginger, chilli, onion powder and other seasonings. It is sold ready made at African grocers as suya spice or yaji, and it is worth buying rather than approximating, since the peanut base is difficult to get right at home.
Does suya contain nuts?
Yes. Yaji is built on ground peanut and there is no version of suya without it, so it is unsafe for anyone with a peanut allergy. This is worth stating plainly because the peanut is a spice component rather than a visible ingredient, and it is not obvious from looking at the finished dish.
What is the difference between suya and tsire?
They are the same thing under two names. Tsire is the Hausa term and suya is the more widely used one across Nigeria and West Africa. Agashe in Sudan is a close relative made the same way. Regional differences are mostly in the yaji blend rather than the technique.
Can I make it on a barbecue instead of in the oven?
Yes, and grilling over charcoal is how it is actually made in Nigeria. Thread the chicken onto skewers, keep the coals at a moderate heat rather than fierce, and baste and turn as the recipe describes. The oven method is simply the reliable indoor equivalent.
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chale getting proper yaji here in croydon was a bit of a mission, had to visit two shops on london road before finding the right spice mix. used drumettes only because the winglets were sold out. turned out really good in the oven at 180, though next time ill add a bit more bouillon powder to the basting oil for extra kick. overall crisp skin and very nice oo.
Never used yaji spice before so I was a little nervous about the heat level. I followed the recipe and baked these on a wire rack like suggested, the crispiness was unbelievable! The raw red onions on the side felt strange to me at first, but they actually cut through the heat perfectly. My whole family destroyed these wings in ten minutes.
i left the wings in the fridge for almost 20 hours with the yaji before grilling. the basting with peanut oil while it was on the rack made all the difference, e sweet no be small thing. served it with raw red onions and fresh cabbage just like the suya spots in town. bro you nailed it o.