Suya: How to Make Nigeria's Most Iconic Street Food at Home

There are only two kinds of people in Nigeria: those who eat suya, and those who are lying about it. The smell of groundnut-spiced beef sizzling over hot coals at midnight, wrapped in old newspaper with raw onion — this is the smell of Nigerian night life. Inseparable from festivity.

Ingredients

• 1kg beef sirloin or rump — sliced very thinly against the grain (2–3mm)
• Yaji spice: 4 tbsp roasted groundnut powder, 1 tbsp cayenne, 1 tbsp paprika, 1 tsp thyme, 1 tsp turmeric, 2 Jumbo cubes crumbled, salt
• Skewers, groundnut oil
• To serve: raw onion, fresh tomato, extra ground pepper

Method

1. Make the Yaji

Toast groundnut powder in a dry pan 2 minutes first — this awakens the oils. Mix all spices with crumbled Jumbo. The yaji should be warm-smelling, complex and slightly oily.

2. Coat the Beef

Rub groundnut oil into beef slices, then press yaji generously into both sides. Skewer in a zigzag pattern. Marinate at least 2 hours — overnight is better.

3. High, Dry Heat

Grill on highest heat possible. Each skewer: 2–3 minutes per side, basting with groundnut oil. Char on outside, just-cooked inside.

Serve on a wooden board with raw sliced onion and tomato. Eat with your hands. There is no other way.

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