Senegalese Chicken Yassa
MOROCCAN · MOROCCO

Senegalese Chicken Yassa

Poulet yassaMain

Charred chicken soaked in a blazing onion and lemon marinade, then simmered until the onions melt and the sauce turns sharp, glossy and deep. Senegal's national dish, and it earns it.

Total
75 min
Heat
2/5
Serves
4

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Flavour profile

Heat
Funk
Acid
Richness
Umami
  • Caramelised
  • Charred
  • Savoury
  • Sour

The real deal

Region
Casamance and Dakar, Senegal; the Wolof classic, also beloved across Gambia and Mali.
Technique
Marinate in vast quantities of onion and lemon, char the chicken hard on the grill or in a dry pan, then braise the onions down with the marinade until jammy.
We kept
Onion-to-chicken ratio pushed high, mustard and vinegar in the marinade, lemon as the only acid, chicken finished in the onion sauce. No cream, no tomato.

Ingredients

4 Serves

Marinade

  • 1.2 kg · bone-in, skin-on
  • 700 g · thinly sliced
  • 3 · juiced, zest reserved
  • 3 tbsp
  • 2 tbsp
  • 5 cloves · crushed
  • 4 cm · grated
  • 4
  • 2
  • 1 · optional · pierced, or sliced if you want it hotter
  • 2 tsp
  • 1 tsp · coarsely cracked

simmer

  • 200 ml
  • 400 g · optional · or jasmine rice, to serve

fry

  • 2 tbsp

Method

  1. Slice the as thinly as you can stand. Yassa is half onion by volume, so don't be shy: the onions will collapse into the sauce. Crush the with the flat of a knife, grate the , and crack the coarsely. If you have a pestle, pound them together with a pinch of into a rough paste.

  2. Juice the and whisk it with the , , the pounded aromatics, the and . Taste it: it should be sharp enough to make you blink.

  3. Score the down to the bone and season it hard with . Toss the sliced onions with the chicken and the marinade, pushing the onions underneath and over the top. Add the if you're using it, cover and refrigerate for at least 4 h, ideally overnight.

    Every hour you give it, the lemon cuts deeper. Four hours is the floor, overnight is the point.

  4. Lift the chicken out of the bowl and scrape the onions off it. Tip the onions and every drop of marinade into a jug or bowl: you will need all of it.

  5. Heat a heavy pan or grill until it smokes, add the 2 tbsp and lay the chicken in skin side down. Leave it alone until the skin is deep mahogany and crisping, about 6 min, then turn and give the other side 4 min. You are building the char that makes yassa yassa.

    Work in batches if the pan is crowded: steamed chicken never browns, and the pan cools.

  6. Pour off all but a film of fat and add the drained onions with a pinch of . Cook over medium heat, stirring, until they go translucent and start to catch colour at the edges, about 10 min. They should be soft and sweet, not browned to a crisp.

  7. Pour in the reserved marinade and the 200 ml , scraping up everything stuck to the pan. Nestle the chicken back in skin side up, bring to a bare simmer, cover and cook until the meat pulls from the bone, about 25 min.

  8. Uncover, turn the heat up and let the liquid cook down until the onions are jammy and the sauce coats a spoon, about 8 min. If it tastes flat, add a squeeze of and a pinch more .

    It should be aggressively sour and slightly sweet from the onions. If it's not sour enough, it isn't yassa yet.

  9. Spoon the onions and sauce over the chicken and serve hot, with to soak up what's left in the pan.

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Make it a meal

What hits hardest next to it.

  • Rice & noodlesStarchyLight

    Plain rice soaks up the sharp onion sauce so none of it is lost.

    Try: Steamed broken rice or jasmine rice

    From our kitchen

  • SaladFreshSourCrunchy

    A cold, sharp salad resets the palate between hits of onion and lemon.

    Try: Shaved carrot and cabbage with lime and chilli

    From our kitchen

  • CondimentSpicyFunkyHerby

    A fiery chilli condiment lets each eater push the heat where they want it.

    Try: Rough-pounded scotch bonnet with garlic, lime and salt

    From our kitchen