Chicken Suya
Nigeria
Senior Editor
London, United Kingdom ·
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London, United Kingdom ·
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.
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.
Dietary tags are provided by contributors as a guide, not verified by AFN, and they depend on the products you buy. If you have a serious allergy, check every ingredient yourself.
Cut the chicken into drumettes and winglets, pat dry with a kitchen towel and transfer to a bowl.
Add salt, bouillon powder and suya spice to the wings and mix until well coated.
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.
While the wings marinate, mix more suya spice with vegetable oil in a small bowl to make a basting marinade.
Preheat the grill or oven to 180°C and line a baking tray with foil, then set a rack on it.
Arrange the chicken wings on the rack with room between them so they cook evenly.
Brush the chicken with the oil and spice marinade and grill or bake for 15 minutes.
Take it out, turn the pieces, brush on more marinade, and return for another 15 minutes.
Turn once more, brush on the remaining marinade and grill for a final 15 minutes.
Transfer to a bowl and sprinkle over more suya spice.
Serve with sliced onions, tomatoes and salad.
Personal notes from Nympha Nzeribe3 reviews
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.
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.