Chicken Suya, Yakitori-Style
Chicken Suya, Yakitori-Style
Chicken Suya, Yakitori-Style
By Pierre Thiam and Lisa Katayama (@chefpierrethiam and @tokyomango)
6
15 minutes
20 minutes
Reprinted with permission from Simply West African by Pierre Thiam with Lisa Katayama, copyright Pierre Thiam © 2023. Photographs by Evan Sung. Published by Clarkson Potter, a division of Penguin Random House, LLC.
In Lisa’s hometown of Tokyo, you can’t walk two city blocks without encountering an alluring fabric-laden doorway inviting you in for yakitori, an eating concept based around consuming every single part of the chicken on a skewer. Here, we combine West African flavors with this quintessential Japanese dish by using kankankan and an onion garnish.
Kankankan is a solid, multipurpose spice blend that you’ll want to store next to your garam masala, Italian spice blend, za’atar, and the rest of your global spice collection. It hails from the Hausa tribe from northern Nigeria and can be used in a marinade or as a dry dip. Also called yaji in other parts of West Africa, it’s a key spice in making suya, a grilled meat preparation found all over the region.
Ingredients
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½ cup raw peanut flour or 1 cup roasted unsalted peanuts, ground into flour
½ cup yellow masa corn flour, toasted
2 teaspoons fine sea salt
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
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1 pound boneless chicken thighs (skin-on preferred, but skinless will work)
1 cup Homemade Kankankan or store-bought
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- ½ teaspoon grated fresh ginger
- ½ cup thinly sliced red onion, for serving
- ½ cup coarsely chopped roasted peanuts, for serving
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12 wooden or bamboo skewers (if using wooden skewers, soak them in water for 1 hour before using to prevent them from charring)
Directions
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In a small bowl, add the peanut flour, corn flour, salt, paprika, cayenne, ginger, pepper, and nutmeg, and stir to combine. Alternatively, pulse the ingredients in a food processor. (Store the spice blend in a resealable jar with a tight-fitting lid for up to 1 month.)
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Cut the chicken into 1-inch pieces and place them in a shallow dish. Add ½ cup of the kankankan, the oil, garlic, salt, and ginger, and mix well. (Save the other ½ cup kankankan for serving.)
Preheat a barbecue grill, a grill pan, or an oven broiler. Pierce the chicken pieces with the skewers, 4 or 5 pieces per skewer, and place on the grill or under the broiler until the chicken has some nice charred grill lines and is cooked through, 6 minutes on each side, for a total cook time of 12 minutes.
Serve with the remaining kankankan on the side as a dry dip, and sprinkle with red onion slices and chopped peanuts.
