Chicken Spice

Three things people mean by chicken spice

The name is generic, so it helps to know which of three products you are talking about. The first is a dry blend, the kind American home cooks mix from salt, paprika, garlic and onion powder, thyme and black pepper. The second is the Nigerian-style wet seasoning, a paste of onion, garlic, ginger, thyme and a seasoning cube that gets rubbed into the bird and refrigerated. The third is a chicken-flavor cube or powder, such as the chicken variety sold under several seasoning brands. A product labeled chicken spice is the first kind: a dry blend made with poultry in mind. Blends differ by maker, so the ingredient list and the salt matter more than the name. Ingredients are listed from the largest amount to the smallest, which means a blend whose first ingredient is salt leans heavily on salt, while one that starts with spices is a different product with the same name.

The Nigerian method: season, boil, then crisp

Nigerian chicken is usually cooked twice, and the seasoning works in both stages. The Nigerian home recipes behind this page follow the same order.

1. Season. Coat the pieces with the seasoning, onion and, often, curry and thyme. One guide says to refrigerate the seasoned chicken for at least two hours or overnight.
2. Steam, then simmer. In one chicken stew, the seasoned pieces sit covered for about 15 minutes before water goes in, then simmer until tender. Another recipe adds curry, thyme, onion, cubes and salt straight to the boiling water.
3. Save the stock. The one to two cups of cooking liquid go into the stew or the rice, so the seasoning does a second job. Taste that stock before you add more salt, because it is already seasoned.
4. Finish. The boiled chicken is baked, air fried, deep fried or grilled for color and a crisp edge, which means the seasoning has to survive both a boil and a hot finish.

Peppered chicken: where a dry blend meets a pepper sauce

Peppered chicken is the party version. A recipe from Sisi Jemimah marinates the chicken overnight with chicken cubes, garlic powder, mixed herbs and a little oil, seasons it again with onion, curry, thyme and pepper before boiling, then grills or fries it. The sauce is a blend of peppers, tomato, onion and ginger fried until it reduces by almost half, about 10 to 15 minutes. About a cup of stock goes in with the chicken, and the pot simmers for five to eight minutes so the sauce coats the pieces. One broiling recipe cooks the boiled chicken at 350 degrees Fahrenheit until golden before the sauce goes on.

How much blend per pound of chicken

There is no standard amount. As a comparison, one American home blend uses about four teaspoons of its mix for two pounds of chicken thighs, roughly two teaspoons a pound, and roughly a third of that mix is salt. A commercial blend can be saltier or milder than that, so the per-pound guidance on your pack beats any rule of thumb. Remember that Nigerian recipes layer seasonings, so a chicken that also gets a cube and a spoon of salt may need less of the blend.

Food safety for seasoned chicken

• Thaw frozen chicken in the refrigerator, not on the counter, before you season it.
• Marinate in the refrigerator, never on the counter.
• Cook poultry to an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit, checked with a food thermometer in the thickest part. Color alone does not tell you.
• Do not brush leftover marinade from raw chicken onto cooked chicken.
• Refrigerate cooked chicken and stew within two hours, or one hour in a hot room.

Which finish gives which result

Because boiling has already cooked the chicken through, the finishing step is about texture. One Nigerian seasoning guide says frying gives the crispiest outside, baking gives a more tender and juicy bite, and grilling suits a dry rub or a basted finish with a smoky edge. If you cook seasoned chicken from raw instead, the 165 degree rule applies at the end of that step. Oven temperatures vary, so go by the thermometer, not the clock.

Dry rub or wet paste: choosing for the dish

A dry blend is fast. It suits a weeknight oven tray or air fryer, where you want seasoning on the surface and no mess. A wet paste with ginger garlic paste gives deeper flavor when you have a few hours. In a stew pot, a dry blend dissolves into the stock without extra effort. Heat is a separate decision: blends vary, so add fresh or dried pepper to taste. A spoonful of curry powder and a seasoning cube are the usual companions, but taste before you add them, because a blend may already carry salt.

Reading the jar and keeping it fresh

Look first at the ingredient list, then at the Contains line if there is one. Dried blends keep their best quality for roughly one to three years, according to Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, which advises a dark cupboard and tight lids. One home-blend recipe suggests using its mix within about three months, which shows how quickly homemade blends fade. If it smells stale, replace it.

Chicken spice at Afri Foods Basket

Chicken spice is not for sale yet. If you want to know when it is, put your email into the Notify me form on this page. Chicken pepper soup is sometimes eaten with a soft swallow, and pounded yam flour can already be ordered. The rest of the spices and seasoning category is a click away, and any brand names on the packs you buy belong to their owners.