Suya
Made to order
sinfully delicious
fire grilled meat/ chicken/ pork sometimes shrimp.
Suya is probably one of, if not the most popular street food in Cameroon. Everyone has their special Suya Joint. People will travel miles for that one special suya seller. You’ll never know what they put in their blend because no one is willing to share the recipe. There are actually quite a few online suya spice blends but again, no one is the same. Sometimes you just have to go with your preferred source.
The Spice Mix
For the spice mix, I’m making mine from scratch. One of the main ingredients in the suya spice blend is the ground roasted peanuts. Spanish style peanuts are my favorite to work with. It’s the closest to what we have back home if not the same. Start by oven roasting the peanuts. You can buy pre roasted peanuts but make sure they are have no salt , sugar or honey added. Pulse sever times in a blender to grind. Over blending will quickly release the oils and it turns into a paste. Sieve to remove any big peanut chunks. From here to get rid of the excess oil , I wrap the peanuts in a cheese cloth or clean kitchen towel and put some weight on it. Leave for a little while to get rid of as much oil as you can.
You should have everything else in your pantry to make your own suya spice. You can replace the Cameroon pepper with cayenne or another hot pepper. Add as much heat as you want. Suya joints back home are strategically next to bars for a reason. A beer to wash down the suya, or maybe the heat from the suya to clear the alcohol.
These oven roasted Chicken was sooo good we literally grabbed them and started eating the moment they got out of the Oven. Okay Pause, after the pictures because this is definitely one to share on the blog. The only one patient enough to wait for it to cool was my daughter. Mommy did not want her scorching her little mouth. They are juicy, tender and so flavorsome. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.
Oven roasted suya spiced chicken
Ingredients
Suya Spice Mix
- 3/4 cup ground peanuts
- 1 and 1/2 Tbsp onion powder
- 1 and 1/2 tsp white pepper
- 1 and 1/2 tsp powdered ginger
- 1/2 tsp cameroon pepper (Cayenn eor other hot pepper). More if you need more heat)
- 2 tsp Garlic powder
Chicken Suya
- 1/2-1 tsp Kosher salt
- 1 and 1/2 Tbsp Suya spice blend
- 1/2 Tbsp canola oil
Instructions
- Rinse and dry drumsticks with a paper towel. In a bowl, combine chicken, oil, salt and suya spice mix. Use your hands and thoroughly mix everything, ensuring drumsticks are well coated. Add more of the spice mix if needed ( Bigger drumsticks)
- Preheat oven to 400 and bake until golden brown and no trace of pink (Especially near the bone). About 45 minutes. Rotate half way through baking to get both sides of the chicken.
- Serve with pepper sauce , with a sprinkle of Suya spice.
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