Starter Nigerian
Suya — beef skewers with peanut and ginger spice
Meat & fish
Editorially prepared
Thin strips of beef coated in roasted peanuts, ginger, paprika and chilli, then cooked on a griddle pan. Make four short skewers ahead, chill them and reheat before serving with red onion and lime.
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Ingredients
4 servings · metric units
The base quantity makes four short skewers, one per person as a snack. When scaling up, keep the meat in a thin layer on the skewers. Do not crowd the griddle pan; each extra batch adds around 8–10 minutes. Cool larger quantities in several shallow dishes rather than in a pile.
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You’ll need
Small food processor or nut grinder · Scales, measuring spoons and a bowl · Sharp knife and chopping board · Four metal skewers about 20 cm long · Griddle pan about 28 × 28 cm · Tongs · Kitchen thermometer with a thin probe · Shallow metal dish for chilling and reheating · Kitchen foil · Fridge and oven · Serving platter
Method
0/8 stepsGrind the peanuts and mix the spices
Pulse the peanuts into fine crumbs resembling coarse sand. Stop before they turn into an oily paste. Tip into a bowl and mix with the ginger, sweet paprika, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and black pepper.
Grind the peanuts and mix the spices Prepare the skewers
Pat the chilled beef dry and slice across the grain into strips 2–3 mm thick and about 2 cm wide. Toss with the oil, then with all the peanut spice mix, pressing it onto the meat. Divide evenly between four skewers. Thread the strips in loose folds and flatten them so they do not form thick bundles. Wash your hands, knife and board after handling the raw beef.
Prepare the skewers Cook the skewers fully
Heat the dry griddle pan over a medium-high heat for about 5 minutes. Switch on the extractor; meanwhile, prepare clean tongs and a shallow metal dish. Arrange the skewers in a single layer with gaps between them. Cook for about 8–10 minutes from placing them in the pan, turning every 2–3 minutes. The coating should brown and develop darker griddle marks without blackening; reduce the heat if necessary. Before removing, check the thickest fold of beef: it should reach 75°C for at least 30 seconds. If it has not, continue cooking and check again. The meat must be fully cooked before chilling.
10:00Cook the skewers fully Cool briefly
Transfer the skewers to a clean, shallow metal dish in a single layer. Leave uncovered only until they stop steaming heavily, allowing about 15 minutes from transferring. Do not wait for them to become completely cold on the worktop; refrigerate once steaming stops.
15:00Cool briefly Chill in the fridge
Cover the dish loosely and place in a fridge at 0–5°C, no later than 2 hours after cooking. Chill for about 1 hour 30 minutes from refrigerating, until the skewers are cold throughout, ideally 5°C or below. If they are still warm, chill for longer. If holding them for longer before serving, cover tightly once cold. Towards the end of chilling, you can start preheating the oven and preparing the accompaniments in the next step.
1:30:00Chill in the fridge Preheat the oven and prepare the accompaniments
About 15 minutes before the planned chilling time ends, preheat the oven to 180°C conventional. Keep the skewers in the fridge. Peel the red onion and cut into thin half-moons. Wash the lime and cut into wedges. Prepare a serving platter. Before reheating, check that the oven has reached the set temperature and the beef is fully chilled.
Preheat the oven and prepare the accompaniments Reheat before serving
Cover the dish of chilled skewers with kitchen foil and place in the preheated oven. Reheat for about 10–15 minutes from putting them in, checking first after 10 minutes. The beef should be steaming hot throughout, with the thickest fold reaching 75°C for at least 30 seconds. If it is cooler, continue reheating under the foil and check every 2 minutes. Do not reheat again.
10:00Reheat before serving Serve with onion and lime
Arrange the four hot skewers on the platter. Add the raw red onion and lime wedges alongside for squeezing over the beef. Serve straight away.
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Tips
- Cut the beef across the grain into strips 2–3 mm thick. Thick folds make cooking and reheating uneven.
- Grind the peanuts in short pulses. If they stick to the sides, stop and loosen them with a spoon rather than blending continuously.
- Reduce the heat if the spice coating blackens quickly. It should be browned and fragrant, not bitter or burnt.
- You can prepare the skewers up to 8 hours before serving. Once chilled, keep them refrigerated until reheating; any extra holding time is not included in the stated total.
Storage
Only fully cooked skewers should be prepared ahead. Cool them in a single layer in a shallow dish and refrigerate once they stop steaming, no later than 2 hours after cooking. Store at 0–5°C; for the party version, prepare up to 8 hours before serving. Reheat only once, to a core temperature of 75°C for at least 30 seconds. Use any skewers that have not been reheated within 48 hours of cooking. Store the onion and lime separately.
Timing
Hands-on: 50 min · Cooking: 22 min · Resting: 1 hr 45 min
The total allows for tasks done in parallel. The individual times can overlap.
