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Roasted Sweet Potato With Easy Suya Spice Pistachio Crunch
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Keith Corbin has a gift for making produce the main event. The chef at Alta Adams in Los Angeles built his summer Pluot Tomato Salad with Suya Pistachio Crunch around juicy California fruit, a silky pistachio cream, and a candied topping seasoned with suya spice, the bold West African blend that packs a slightly sweet heat we cannot resist. We loved this recipe so much, it seems too long to wait until next summer to indulge again. So we called on a California classic, sweet potatoes, and they more than delivered.
The Chef Behind The Suya Pistachio Crunch
Alta Adams sits on a sunny corner of the West Adams neighborhood in Los Angeles, with Corbin at the helm. The California soul food lineup there, including fried chicken and oxtails, gives way to seasonal California cuisine built around whatever looks best at the farmers market at the time.
That discipline shows up in Corbin’s take on suya. Corbin pulled the traditional blend apart and swapped whole California pistachios in for the ground peanuts. The nuts get coated in suya’s ginger, garlic and onion, plus a little brown sugar. This treatment lightly candies them into a crunch you’ll want on everything.
You can find his original Pluot Tomato Salad with Suya Pistachio Crunch on NYT Cooking.
What Is Suya Spice Made Of?
Suya spice got its start in West Africa, where nomadic communities crossing the Sahel and Savannah needed food that would keep on long journeys with no refrigeration in sight. Today it’s most closely tied to northern Nigeria. There it seasons suya, the thin-sliced grilled meat skewers sold by street vendors. A traditional suya spice mix starts with kuli kuli, sun-dried peanut cakes that get baked or fried, then ground with onion, ginger, garlic and chiles. Heat levels are up to the cooks preference which as you can imagine vary greatly.
What Does Suya Spice Taste Like?
Think roasted nuts with a real chile kick. The best versions taste earthy and deep, carrying a hint of smokiness. Ginger gently warms this spice blend, while onion and garlic powder give it a savory spice backbone. Suya spice is an aromatic spice blend, and once you’ve tasted it on these sweet potatoes you’ll start eyeing everything else in the crisper drawer to see what is next.
Want to try the original? NYT Cooking has a homemade suya spice recipe made with peanuts that deserves a try too.
From Summer Pluots To Fall Sweet Potatoes
Corbin built his salad around tomatoes and pluots and at the restaurant he sometimes reaches for lightly grilled stone fruit too. Sweet potatoes step in beautifully once the weather turns cooler though. Roasted wedges bring caramelized edges and a soft middle. Underneath, a pistachio cream made with Greek yogurt and a squeeze of citrus stays cool and tangy enough to calm the cayenne. A drizzle of balsamic adds dark fruit flavor, while a combination of thinly sliced basil and mint keeps the plate bright.
A Word About Sweet Potatoes from California
Sweet potatoes may tantalize your taste buds, but how well do you understand them? There are some myths surrounding this root vegetable. First, it’s essential to note that a sweetpotato is NOT the same as a yam. It also differs from its standard potato counterparts, which are tubers. And get this: the word is actually sweetpotato. According to California Sweetpotatoes, “sweetpotato” is correct because their product is not, in fact, a sweet potato – it’s an entirely different vegetable.
Let The Produce Lead
Corbin’s rule works just as well in a home kitchen as it does at Alta Adams. Pick up a few California sweetpotatoes this week and give this incredible recipe a try.
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Roasted Sweet Potato With Suya Spice Pistachio Crunch and Pistachio Cream
Ingredients
For the suya pistachio crunch
- 2 tsp ground ginger
- ½ tsp brown sugar
- ½ tsp ground cayenne
- ¼ tsp ground grains of paradise see Tip or black pepper
- ¼ tsp onion powder
- ¼ tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp kosher salt such as Diamond Crystal
- ¾ cup shelled unsalted pistachios
- 1 ½ tsp extra-virgin olive oil
For the roasted sweet potato spears
- 3 medium sweet potatoes
- 2 TBSP extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 TBSP coarse kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
For the pistachio cream
- 2/3 cup shelled unsalted pistachios, or 1/2 cup pistachio meal
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1/4 cup plain full-fat Greek yogurt
- 2 TBSP extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 TBSP lemon juice
- 2 tsp honey
- 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt such as Diamond Crystal
To serve
- 1 TBSP Balsamic vinegar for drizzling. We used Temecula Olive Oil Vanilla Date Balsamic vinegar
- 1/4 cup Fresh basil or mint leaves or a combination sliced thin
- 1 lemon, zest removed and lemon saved for another use.
- Coarse or flaky salt for sprinkling
Instructions
Make the suya pistachio crunch:
- Heat the oven to 300℉ ( 180℃) with a rack in the center of the oven. Line a small rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Mix the ginger, brown sugar, cayenne, ground grains of paradise, onion powder, garlic powder, and salt in a small bowl. Add the pistachios and oil, then toss to evenly coat. Spread in a single layer on the prepared pan.
- Bake until browned and fragrant, about 15 minutes. Cool completely on the pan, then coarsely chop. The pistachio crunch can be kept in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
Roast the sweet potato spears
- Heat the oven to 450°F (230℃). Scrub and dry the sweet potatoes.
- Cut each sweet potato in half lengthwise. Cut each half into 3 or 4 long spears (6 to 8 wedges per potato). Cut the spears as uniformly as you can so that they bake evenly.
- Place the spears on a rimmed baking sheet and drizzle with the oil, salt, and pepper. Toss to coat. Then spread into an even layer with cut sides facing down, being careful that the wedges do not touch. If needed, you can divide the wedges between two baking sheets and bake in the upper and lower thirds of the oven instead.
- Bake the sweet potato wedges for 15 minutes, then turn them over with a spatula. Return the pan to the oven and bake for another 5 to 10 minutes, until lightly browned and tender when pierced with a fork.
- Heat the oven to broil. Broil the sweet potatoes for 3 to 5 minutes, until they are crisped at the edges to your liking. Watch carefully so that they do not burn. Remove from the oven and immediately and set aside to cool briefly.
Make the pistachio cream:
- If using pistachios instead of pistachio meal: Using a spice grinder, food processor, or blender, grind the pistachios until very finely ground.
- Transfer the ground pistachio meal to a bowl and stir in the cream, yogurt, oil, lemon juice, honey, and salt until very well blended.
Assemble to serve:
- Spread the pistachio cream on smaller plates or a large platter. Arrange the roasted sweet potato wedges on top, drizzle lightly with vinegar, then sprinkle with the herbs, lemon zest, and more salt if desired. Scatter the suya pistachio crunch on top. Serve immediately.