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Suya Skewers

Nigerian street food at its best: spicy, smoky grilled beef coated in a peanut-based spice blend called yaji.
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Servings: 4
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

For the yaji spice blend:
  • 0.5 cups roasted peanuts finely ground
  • 2 tablespoons cayenne pepper
  • 1 tablespoons paprika
  • 1 teaspoons ground ginger
  • 1 teaspoons garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoons onion powder
  • 1 halal bouillon cube crushed
  • 0.5 teaspoons salt
For the skewers:
  • 2 pounds halal beef sirloin or ribeye thinly sliced
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 8 wooden or metal skewers
  • 1 onion sliced, to serve
  • 1 tomato sliced, to serve
  • 1 cups cabbage sliced, to serve

Method
 

For the yaji spice blend:
  1. Mix all the yaji spice ingredients together in a bowl: 0.5 cups roasted peanuts, finely ground, 2 tablespoons cayenne pepper, 1 tablespoons paprika, 1 teaspoons ground ginger, 1 teaspoons garlic powder, 1 teaspoons onion powder, 1 halal bouillon cube, crushed, and 0.5 teaspoons salt.
    2. This blend is the entire soul of suya, so don't rush it! Taste as you go and adjust the heat to what you can handle.
Coat and marinate the beef:
  1. Toss the sliced beef (2 pounds halal beef sirloin or ribeye, thinly sliced) with the oil (2 tablespoons vegetable oil), then coat it generously in about two-thirds of the yaji mix, pressing the spice into the meat.
  2. Thread the beef onto skewers (8 wooden or metal skewers) and let it marinate for at least 30 minutes, though a few hours in the fridge makes a real difference.
Grill the skewers:
  1. Grill over high heat (or use a hot grill pan or broiler if you don't have access to an outdoor grill) for 3–8 minutes per side, until charred at the edges and cooked through.
Finish and serve:
  1. Sprinkle the remaining yaji over the hot skewers right after they come off the heat.
  2. Serve with 1 onion, sliced, to serve, 1 tomato, sliced, to serve, and 1 cups cabbage, sliced, to serve on the side.

Notes

If you can't find yaji-specific dry pepper (kilishi pepper) locally, this cayenne-based version gets you very close. A lot of Nigerian and West African grocery stores also sell pre-made yaji if you want to skip the blend step entirely.