Peppeh Chicken is a staple is Sierra Leone and one of those food items that is guaranteed to be served at any Sierra Leonean gathering or party.
For those who don’t know, I am 1/3 Sierra Leonean (maternal side) and this yummy chicken is not unfamiliar as I grew up eating it and Mom makes it sometimes.
I never thought to learn how to make it until my foodie sis (@manifestkitchen on IG) made same last week and it looked so delicious!
Given COVID-19 and being stuck at home for the most part, I thought I’d be a great idea to give it shot and add my own little twist.
INGREDIENTS
Chicken Wings
(I used 22 chicken wings but you use any chicken parts or type of your liking. It does not have to be 22 pieces either)
1 yellow onion
2 plum tomatoes
4 garlic cloves
1/2 cup of scallions
2 habanero peppers (or more if you like spicy)
1 3/4 cup peanut butter
1 TBSP tomato paste
1 TSP salt
2 TBSP vegetable oil (or the oil of your choice)
1 TBSP black pepper
1 1/2 TBSP fresh lemon juice
*TBSP: tablespoon / TSP: teaspoon
CHICKEN PREPARATION
Start off with soaking my chicken in fresh lemon juice and cold water for about 30 minutes.
Rinse the chicken and move on to marinading. However for this recipe, after rinsing the wings, I sprinkled 1 TBSP of fresh lemon on the wings, mixed the wings to make sure the juice was coated on every single wing and put it in the refrigerator while I prepared my marinade.
MARINADE
In a blender, pour 1/2 cup of water and add your condiments: onions, tomatoes, scallions, garlic cloves, habanero peppers. Add in your peanut butter and tomato paste.
Blend.
Once the peanut butter is blended in, pour your marinade in a bowl.
Add the spices and stir.
Pour your marinade over the chicken wings and mix while ensuring they are well coated.
(Tip: use a glove if you do not want to get your hands dirty).
You can proceed to grilling, baking or smoking immediately however I let my wings marinate for 2-3 days before smoking and grilling.
I smoked my wings at 240 degrees for 2 hours and threw them on the grill to finish off.
I would add some more peanut butter and lemon juice next time around (personal preference) and will adjust recipe accordingly.
But they tasted delicious and enjoyed them with some Shrimp Fried Rice on the first day and the next day with some Attieke!
Hope you enjoy this Sierra Leonean delight!
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These wings hit the spot! The marinade is so good! The flavors are incredible, somehow they all work in perfect harmony to create the best flavor! Literally, finger licking good (I wasn’t wasting one drop)! Not too sweet, not too hot but perfect! I will absolutely be making these again and would encourage you try them!!
I would like to start out by saying I seldom try recipes but off the recommendation of a good friend, I tried the BOUFFISTA PEPPEH CHICKEN. There are several ways to describe how good this Great dish really is. I love the spicy hot but not over bearing, the infinity of flavor from the Combination of the ingredients, the pleasant surprise from the tomatoes and peanut butter blend blew me away! This dish is finger licking good! Bouffista is Royalty in the kitchen.
The recipe was so easy to follow. I have been looking to try something new and this was just the thing. Between easy to follow, read steps and ingredients that didn't require stocking up on a ton of seasonings I didn't have, this was one that was also budget friendly! I let the chicken marinade in lemon water for about an hour (teacher probs) and made the marinade in that time as well. They stayed in the marinade from mid-morning Monday until Wednesday evening. This made the chicken so flavorful and JUICY. I've not grilled in a long time and therefore I, the chef, struggled, but they turned out great. Part way through, we used grill sheets to finish off the cooking. It took about 30 minutes to grill because I used 8 large skin on, bone in, chicken thighs. This was equivalent to 5.5 lbs of chicken.
I love following Kizi’s recipes and I actually tried this guy! So easy and so yummy. My husband said it was so amazing and hadn’t had these types of flavors before, so double win. We are always trying to find new ideas for food! We also love to travel and try new cuisines, so this was perfect!
I am very happy to hear that this recipe was easy to follow and that you and your family enjoyed it! Those chicken thighs looked delicious!
The thought of adding peanut butter to my meat seasoning and grilling it never crossed my mind until now. I was not sure what to expect. But I went for it this weekend and tried bouffista ‘s pepper chicken recipe. Once the meat came off the grill, my family and I tried a peice each! Oh my, we were all pleasantly surprised!!! The taste was unique and we all enjoyed it!
Thanks sis for sharing this recipe. If you like peanut butter, I recommend to try it and find out for yourself what I’m talking about! I will be making this again.
The marinade is amazing and one that everyone will love. Thank you for giving this recipe a try and glad to hear that the family enjoyed it!