Chichinga (Ghanaian Beef Kebabs)

Chef notes

These are the quintessential Ghanaian kebabs, but really, they belong to most West African homes. Chichinga is often one of the many rounds of food you receive during a welcome at someone's home or at an event in the Ghanaian community. My take uses my all-day seasoning Blend and suya spice blend to season the meat, but this is very similar to what you might have at any gathering. And if Chichinga is served in a restaurant or on a roadside in Ghana, you'll get it the way it's meant to be enjoyed: over the grill. Suya spices just seem to come alive when cooked over a flame; that's why I think this dish stands on its own against any other version of kebabs in the world.

Suya is a peanut-based spice rub that you find all over West Africa. It's the special sauce in Chichinga, the quintessential street food in Ghana, creating a delicious combination of earthy sweetness thanks to the peanuts and a slight bitterness from the lick of flames that create a char on the meat. You can buy suya premade at any African grocer, but it's good to make your own because you can control the spice level. Suya is great on grilled meats and vegetables and even mixed into marinades to add a deep earthy flavor.

The All-Day Seasoning is the blend I reach for in my home kitchen to flavor meats, vegetables, eggs and just about anything else I'm looking to season with a tasty mix of spices and herbs. In the United States, "all-purpose seasoning" is the most recent name for "kitchen pepper," a customizable blend of spices that enslaved Africans used in plantation kitchens to season dishes, an ingenious shortcut that allowed cooks to add their own blend of spices to a dish quickly. You can find all-purpose seasonings like Lawry's in grocery stores, but I like making my own because I can customize the amount of spice, salt, and herbaceousness. One of my favorite ingredients to include is Worcestershire powder (a dehydrated form of the liquid kind, found readily online) because it adds a great bit of umami. If you can't find it, then it's okay to just omit it, but really try to track it down online if you can. This is a good herb-forward base, but feel free to play around with the ratios to make your own signature blend.

Special equipment: 8 to 10 metal or wooden skewers (if using wooden, soak overnight in water).