I brought back some of my best, yummy Nigerian snacks on a recent visit, in addition to some very hot pepper because despite what you might have heard, “spicy” Spanish food is practically non existent. At least not in the way you think. You order something spicy and keep wondering where the heat is! . I want to share with you some of my all time favourite and definitely yummy Nigerian snacks. Some look easy to make too, so if you’re feeling adventurous, you can try this at home. I haven’t written about food in a while. Feast your eyes on some savoury and best Nigerian treats.
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Favorite Yummy and Best Nigerian Snacks:
Coconut Balls (Shuku Shuku):
Without a doubt, this is my all time favorite snack. It’s made with coconut flakes, sugar and egg yolk. I have seen various recipes online. However, most don’t look like the one from the street vendor. I suspect there is honey in the mix somewhere. All l know is, it tastes absolutely delicious. I can never stop eating it when l go home.
Plantain Chips:
This is again, without a doubt, my favorite snack :-). Yes, I know l just said that up above, but l can’t decide between the two. You know that my favorite food in the world is plantain (dodo), one of my nicknames growing up as l’ve said in an older post with my favorite Nigerian meals. This is plantain cut in slices and fried. It is then sprinkled with salt and sometimes pepper depending on which type you get. This reminds me of Tostones, the Puerto Rican snack as the plantain tends to be harder.
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Boli is definitely one of the best snacks for Nigerians:
Boli is yet another spin on the lovely dodo. This is plantain that is roasted on an open fire till it’s charred on the outside. You can serve and eat it as is, or you can make boli-bopa. The plantain is sliced sideways and layered with peanuts. Trust me it’s good. I, however like it better dipped in olive oil, salt and pepper mixture. My mouth is watering as l type. It’s music to any Nigerian’s ears when they hear the shouts of the street vendors selling “boli-bopa” :-).
Dodo Ikire: An amazing Nigerian snack
Yet another way to make use of ripe plantain. This is a regional treat and a specialty of the township of Ikire which is located in Osun State, home of the Sacred Grove. The ripe plantain is mashed and fried in palm oil as opposed to vegetable oil. It’s mixed with onions, pepper and salt. To retain the moistness, it needs to be put in a plastic bag as soon as possible. This brings back such fond memories for me. My uncle used to bring them to me and my cousin in boarding school as he would pass Ikire on the way to our high school. Absolutely delicious.
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Meat Pie:
This is a delicacy that is shared with the Carribbean. Goes by the name of Jamaican beef patty among other things. It reminds me of a pot pie. It’s also made with chicken, but my preference is for the beef. It contains ground beef, onions, carrots, pepper and potatoes. It does have a similarity also to empanadas, the difference being spice and other condiments.
Suya: (perhaps the ultimate favourite Nigerian yummy snack)
Mention Suya to a Nigerian and watch their face light up :-). This originated from Northern Nigeria. It is beef skewers coated with peanuts/ginger/onion and secret ingredients as the taste varies. My favorite kind is spicy (rubbed with pepper) and is almost always served wrapped in old newspapers. I’m not sure why, but boy.. is it delicious. For some reason though, it’s only sold at night.
Puff Puff: A delicious Yoruba snack
This is straight up deep fried dough! Need l say more. I could eat a million of it in one seating. It’s that good :-). This is served at pretty much any sort of party, from weddings, to birthdays and graduations. It is a universal and beloved snack in Nigeria.
Fan Ice Milk:
I know this is not food per say, but l love this drink. As a kid, you live to hear the words “Fan Ice Cream” from the uniform clad sellers on bicycles. This delicious drink is make from milk, sugar and crushed ice among other things. Federico loved the chocolate flavored one while l have always been partial to the vanilla one. It is so, so good. We had one everyday the whole time we were at home. The best part is trying to get the last drop out of this hard to tear container. You end up ripping it apart and licking the inside :-).
Once we went out and took my mother’s carer with us. I insisted on buying her one after much cajoling on my part (it’s just not done). She was so grateful and the look on her face when she tasted it was priceless. All three of us were in the car making these sucking noises (you have to squeeze). We were kids together for a few minutes.
Malta:
Not only is it a country, it is also a most excellent non-alcoholic drink chock full of vitamin B. It has a very strong taste and might be an acquired taste, but l love it. It contains barley, hops and water with a slight carbonation. It is also something shared with Caribbean as well as Asian countries. You can find this in most U.S grocery stores too. It has a lot of calories so l don’t drink it as much as l would love to. I remember my mother had to keep it under lock and key when l was young. Only my skinny sisters were allowed to drink it 😉 :-). A lot of athletes drink this for energy.
These are my all time favourites that l consider the best and yummiest Nigerian snacks. There are plenty more, like Chin Chin which always reminds me of those crunchy snacks they give at some Chinese restaurants, only better :-).
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What are your favorite snacks? Have you ever heard or eaten any of these? How tasty do they sound and look?
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They look great. Fried plantains in one form or another seem to be ubiquitous in the tropical climates and we love them in all their forms. We have even tried making our own and they weren’t as good but we’re getting better.
You gotta love the fried plantains :-). Keep trying and it will taste just as great as mine…haha! The trick is in picking the right ripeness of plantain. My absolute favorite food in the world. In all forms!!! 🙂
Looks good! Funny the similarities with Latin cuisine. Lots of plantain which Lissette (being of Caribbean heritage) introduced me to. Malta is something she talks about from her childhood in New York, so I guess they had it there. And the eat patties you are right look like Jamaican patties (we had a local Jamaican store when I was a kid in Ottawa and I loved eating those).
Frank (bbqboy)
Malta is seriously addictive. You can find it everywhere now because there are so many foreigners which is cool. I know in a lot of Latin countries, they mix it with milk. I can’t even imagine what that would taste like. Gotta love those patties and l could eat plantain morning, noon and night :-).
Yummy. These snacks look really delicious. I love plantain chips.
Definitely yummy! I love plantain chips too. Any form of plantain will do 🙂
These foods look very delicious. I love the plantain chips and meat pies.The suya looks amazing, I wouldn’t mind trying those. Some of the others I’m less partial too, lol. I love how you captured the pictures, it definitely brings out the highlight of the food. Thanks for sharing!
I don’t think l’ve found someone who doesn’t like those chips. I am very partial to the spicy brands. The sue is really goo with the rubbed pepper. Not all the images are mine, but from the websites with the links. Haha! trust me, they are all good :-). Thanks for reading.
All of that deliciousness! Well, I didn’t realize plantains are used for so many different Nigerian snacks. Thanks for enlightening me. Puff puff is a staple at many African events. 🙂
Yeah..every African party features puff puff. I think because they are pretty say to make and they can stick toothpicks in them as finger food.There are so many ways to make plantain for sure. I also like them boiled and eaten with peanuts, or mashed with beans with a sprinkle of olive oil, or mixed with gari (cassava flour). Yum!!! 🙂
It just doesn’t get much better than those tastes from *home* does it? Love plantains in any form and some of your other goodies sound tempting, especially the Suya! Mmmm! Anita
Fondest memories always revolve around food :-). So comforting. I’ve always thought plantain was the nectar of the gods, none of this ambrosia stuff :-). Suya is spicy and delicious..you see how packed the stands get at night :-).
I’ll take an order of those puffs and suya please. I’ll inbox my address, lol!
Haha! They’re on the way 🙂 ;-).
These look pretty good! I have never had any of them but I’d sure try them.
They are all so delicious and good. You’d love them 🙂
These snacks looks delicious. I was already craving a Jamaican chicken pattie and now you’ve made me want it even more. (lol)
Haha! I started writing this post as l finished up my plantain chips. I want a pattie too :-).
Girl! YES TO ALL OF THE ABOVE!
Haha!!! I hear you. Yes, yes, and yes! 🙂
I love to cook and eat African food! This is awesome!
I love to eat it! I hate cooking though, so l leave others to it ;-).
My goodness! Never forget the original Mr Biggs meat pie. A meal in its own right with thick pastry & plenty of meat filling. None of that 1/3 meat the rest potatoes rubbish. Puff puff. Suya. Hey why no Gala? It was good at some point 😀
Oh yeah.. I remember it well! My brother lives close to one and l don’t like them anymore. You’re right, they do skimp on the meat now..haha! Gala, the sausage rolls don’t taste as good to me now either, not like in the old days and l didn’t have them this last time around. Might try it again in the future though. Remember goody goody? 🙂
thanks for sharing it is always cool to learn about food in different cultures
Thanks for reading. I also enjoy cuisine from so many different places 🙂
I’ve been really sick in the past several days and I am happy I waited to read this article until I felt better because otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to appreciate it as I did now. I love snacks as well and the ones you shared seem absolutely delicious. I’m really curious about the plantain as I’ve never seen or ate it. But I believe I could eat coconut balls, plantain chips and that vanilla milk until I would explode :))
I hope you’re feeling better C! It sucks to be sick doesn’t it? Plantain is the nectar of the gods :-). It is the most delicious thing on earth..haha! You would love it. The first thing l buy when l go home are the coconut balls and the vanilla milk. I even smile as l write this. Nothing like squeezing the last drops, you just get so happy when you hear or see the Fan Milk bike! 🙂
Goody goody! Pure sugar but what did we know (or care) at that age! The mallam stall on my street kept us well supplied with okin biscuits, butter mints, tom tom – but only if you had a cough lol! Kuli kuli, kilishi gosh we sure had a lot of snacks around:-)
You gotta love those mallam stalls :-). They had every sort of high calorie goodies. That tom-tom was nasty though..just nasty. Haha! Those were great times indeed, and yep..lots of snacks 🙂 :-).
This. This. This is why one travels—or follows travel sites. I LOVE trying new foods. I know I’d love so many of those. Right now, we are traveling, and I have some Jamaican Bammys (spelling?) to try. Eating these foods when I travel allows me to have such a huge repertoire at home in the kitchen. It made going gluten-free easy with plantain, cassava, etc.
Terri
I think you would like a lot, if not all of them, especially the dodo ikire with the palm oil. Hope you are enjoying your trip and the Jamaican Bammys (not sure what those are, but it sounds good 🙂 ). Yep.. I know it does make it easier for you with the health problems. Glad to hear our tropical foods help :-).
Love Nigerian snacks…the plantain chips, dodo, suya…aah, my mouth waters at the mention of suya. We have an annual festival in the Netherlands, in Amsterdam called kwakoe festival, where various immigrants have stands they showcase their local food. I’ve eaten so much suya at the kwakoe festival. I think I have once in a while cravings for Super Malt…I love it!
It’s funny that l never tried sue until l was much older. I just never understood it, but l am hooked now :-). Sounds like we need to check out the Kwakoe festival. They have a similar one here, but no Nigerian food. So glad you love the snacks. Super Malt rocks!!!
Everything looks SO good! I want it all! 🙂
You can have it all 🙂 . They are very, very good.
‘Love all the food & the great photography. Yum! Sadly, there aren’t a lot of African restaurants in Berlin.
I remember going to a South African restaurant and everything was cut up nicely in little chunks, and served on china plates. Hmm! Unlike the Ethiopian restaurant that we went to about 20 odd years ago.
They served our meal on huge round trays, which you had to share, eat with your hands, and sit on the cushioned floor! Now that’s authentic. Unfortunately, I never found it again! 🙁
I’m not big on beef, but I like the suya for the all-spice combination. I also like plantains. As long as they’re not ripe, as I don’t like bananas! The rest, I’ll have to pass on, as I’m allergic to nuts lol….!
Thanks. We don’t have many around here either unfortunately. Haha! Yep..you must eat with your hands to really enjoy and get the feel of many African dishes. It’s the best part in my opinion :-). Oh my goodness.. I will never understand how anyone could like just the regular plantains. One of my sisters is like you and you should see us buying plantain.. She’s like.. too ripe.. I’m like not ripe enough..haha! It was comical. I forgot about your nut allergy..none for you then! 🙂
Sadly. None indeed. But yeah, green plantains. Dry and crunchy, if you will lol!
Okay Victoria, consider yourself disowned!!! 🙂 :-). I can take anything, but green plantains???? Double yuck!!!! ;-).