This suya prawns stir fry was inspired by suya, a popular Nigerian street food.
Suya is skewered and grilled meat pieces; which would have been marinated in ground kulikuli (kulikuli is deep fried peanut paste, which is eaten as a snack) with a blend of other spices; and served with tomatoes and onions to give an explosion of flavours. There are various suya spots on the street of Lagos, where the Hausa “Mallams” sell suya; straight from the grill, usually at night. With this suya prawn noodles stir fry recipe, I wanted to enjoy one of my favourite foods, with the nostalgic flavour of home; minus the meat, and the grilling.
I had planned to use store bought spice to prepare my suya prawn stir fry, but I was surprised that all of the packs labelled “suya” in the stores that I visited didn’t have any peanuts, which is a major ingredient of the spice. I researched how to make the spice blend; and found it was actually easy – if you had access to kulikuli; which I didn’t.
I had a wander around my local shop to see if I could find a substitute, and voila! Peanut butter powder was staring me right in the face on the shelf above the peanut butter shelf at my local Tesco. That was it! I found a replacement for ground kulikuli for my stir-fry.
The unique flavour of the peanut powder, and spices blend, just takes this noodles stir-fry to another level. It is packed with flavour, and quick to prepare; and should just be perfect for those work nights.
If you are using instant noodles, cook according to packet instructions without adding the sauce in the pack. Drain under cold water to prevent sticking.
How to Make Suya Spice
The most important component of the suya spice is peanut in one form or another. This forms the base of suya seasoning. The other components then, depend on who is making it. Most people will add ground ginger, chili flakes and salt. I added garlic to mine because “garlic makes everything taste better”, right?
Suya stir fry
Ingredients
Suya Spice
- 1 teaspoon Ginger powder
- 1 teaspoon Garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon Onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon Chilli flakes
- 3 tablespoons Peanut powder
Stir Fry
- 2 tablespoons Oil
- ½ Onion chopped
- 2 cloves Garlic chopped
- 200 grams Prawn
- Salt to taste
- 1 Carrots sliced thinly
- 1 handful Kale shredded thinly
- 1 Red Pepper sliced thinly
- 1 Greens Pepper sliced thinly
- 200 grams Noodles pre-cooked
Instructions
- Add 2 tablespoons of water into the suya spice and mix thoroughly until smooth
- Heat oil in a wok or a large frying pan and add the onions.
- Cook until soft and translucent, then add the garlic.
- Pour in all of the suya spice mix.
- Stir thoroughly for about 30 secs to prevent sticking
- Add the prawns, and allow to cook for 1 min, while still stirring.
- Add some salt to taste.
- Transfer the peppers, kale and carrots into the pan and allow to cook for 2-3 mins while stirring.
- Add the noodles and allow to cook for 2 mins while stirring
Carlyn
Looks delicious 😋 Will have to try this recipe
Ai | The Wise Budget
This looks great! Thanks for sharing your recipe!
Abi
Thank you. I'm glad you stopped by.