BEHIND THE FIRE: WATCHING SPICY, SMOKY, AND ABSOLUTELY ADDICTIVE RAM SUYA BEING MADE FROM SCRATCH

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It's your favorite girl @debbie-ese 😍
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When it comes to good food, I'm always delighted to be a part of it and there are few things that gives me so much satisfaction as feasting on some spicy smoky ram suya. Well, if you have no idea what a ram suya is, I will be more than happy to explain to you. (You're welcome). So, ram suya is a popular Nigerian street delicacy that is popularised by the Northerners, it is a spicy delicacy made from ram meat and it is always well seasoned with a special kind of pepper called yagi or suya pepper in English among other ingredients like kuli kuli oil, seasoning cubes and salt. The meat is roasted over an open firewood heat which makes it give you a smoky spicy experience.

I got to know about the spot from a friend who shared with me that she gets one of the best ram suya in the city from the location and it is located in the Central Business District in Abuja. So, sometimes last week I had an engagement not to far from the location so I decided to check the place out as soon as I was done. Unfortunately, when got there at about 3pm they have not started the suya process, but I met some young men selling drinks and snacks around who told me they will soon begin to prepare their meats.

Considering the fact that the location wasn't close to where I live, it is not a place I can go all the way back home and return. I just decided to hang around and begin to check the time every seconds because I was getting impatient at some point.

At last, after about 35 minutes to 40 minutes, I saw them beginning to bring in the ram meats and another person was preparing the fire that will be used to roast the meat. Immediately, I noticed that they were heating up some meats that looked halfway done, so I concluded that it should be some of the leftovers from the previous day. I was convinced that I made the right decision when the smoky aroma began to fill the atmosphere. Simultaneously, the fresh ram was being prepared on the side and I was excited to witness the process from the start to finish.

The excitement is born out of the fact that I have tried making suya at home multiple times and it never really tastes like the one I buy from these men on the streets. First, after the ram has been killed, the intestines will be removed and it will be washed clean. Then it will be open up into halves and it will be placed directly on high heat from firewood. Within few minutes it begin to roast and once it is halfway done, they begin the next step.

The next step is the deboning and cutting into small chunks. This process was duly carried out by about four boys who carefully removed the bones from the body of the ram and cut them into small sizes. They were very fast and skillful that they deboned a full ram within few minutes.

Then the chopped meat is passed on to the next group of men consisting of two men whose duty is to portion the meats in aluminium foil papers and season the meat by sprinkling some suya pepper, seasoning cubes, salt and kuli kuli oil. The meats are wrapped in two different sizes of ₦5000 ($3.30) and ₦10000 ($6.60). Each of these wrapped portions are placed back on the heat from the firewood to cook properly and to absorb the seasonings. Once any customer wants to buy you just point at the one you want and it will be repackaged for you to take out in another foil paper.

I ended up opting for the ₦10000 ($6.60) pack and it is was worth the wait. I enjoyed every bit of it and of course I have learnt a new way of making my suya which I will be trying out at home any time soon. I will be glad to share with you all on my food blog.

Thanks for reading and see you in my next one.

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