Poulet Yassa - Senegalese Chicken

 

Here's our first experiment in Senegalese food.  During the Covid Isolation Time, finding new things to eat leads to adventures.  D found this recipe for Poulet Yassa - Senegalese Chicken.  

My first question was "What is Yassa?"  Here's what wikipedia has to say:  

Yassa is a spicy dish prepared with onions and either marinated poultry or marinated fish. Originally from Senegal, yassa has become popular throughout West Africa. Chicken yassa (known as yassa au poulet), prepared with onions, lemon or mustard, is a specialty from the Casamance region in the south of Senegal.^[1] Other meats used for yassa are lamb and fish.^[2][3]

Next question to be answered by wikipedia is what/where is the Casamance region?  From wikipedia we learn:  

The Casamance was subject to both French and Portuguese colonial efforts before a border was negotiated in 1888 between the French colony of Senegal and Portuguese Guinea (now Guinea-Bissau) to the south. Portugal lost possession of Casamance, then the commercial hub of its colony.^{[citation needed]} Casamance, to this day, has preserved the local variant of Upper Guinea Creole known as Ziguinchor Creole, and the members of the deep-rooted Creole community carry Portuguese surnames like Da Silva, Carvalho and Fonseca.

Which brings us to "What is Creole?"  The Encyclopedia Britannica defines Creole Languages as:

Creole languages, vernacular languages that developed in colonial European plantation settlements in the 17th and 18th centuries as a result of contact between groups that spoke mutually unintelligible languages. Creole languages most often emerged in colonies located near the coasts of the Atlantic Ocean or the Indian Ocean. 

Enough background, let's get to the recipe.  

The marinade calls for:

• 1/2 cup peanut oil (or vegetable oil)
• 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut in half horizontally to make two thin fillets
• 4 large yellow onions, roughly chopped
• 8 Tbsp. lemon juice
• 8 Tbsp. cider vinegar
• 1 bay leaf
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 Tbsp. Dijon or stone-ground mustard
• 1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and finely chopped (optional)
• 1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp. black pepper
• 1 tsp. salt
• I wonder why it calls for 8 tablespoons instead of 1/2 cup

We are going to use chicken thighs (since that's what we have. . . )

`~`

Here are all the ingredients assembled for marinating after an overnight in the fridge.

The recipe calls for putting this into a plastic bag to marinate.  I guess I don't trust bags.  I had visions of leaking all over the refrigerator, and I like the reusability of corningware.

After an overnight, the chicken was browned in my trusty Le Creuset 7-quart pot.

That pot has a story.  In order to break up a trip to Syracuse, about 20 years ago, we stopped at a garage sale in Cazenovia.  This pot was there, marked $5.00.  It had a chip on the enamel of the lid and the lid handle was broken.  It looked like it had never been used.  The owner said it was too heavy, and she didn't like it.  I figured it was worth $5, not knowing how much these really cost new, and I bought it.  It was a fun surprise to learn how expensive this pot is!  It has stood us in good stead and is now discolored inside, and no amount of elbow grease or chemicals has worked, but still works well.

The next step is cooking the onions.

Then comes reducing the rest of the liquid with the onions.

Then finish cooking.

We decided to serve it with rice.  To make rice, I like to "fry" the raw rice with a little olive oil and salt until some of the grains are brown or opaque.  With my pan, the ratio that works best is one rice to three water.

This is ready for water and a tight fitting lid.

Here's the dinner!

The Verdict:

• We were surprised that it was not too spicy.  It was just right for us.
• The onions stayed crunchy.  They were supposed to almost disappear.
• It needed side dishes.  Chutney?  Raita?  Naan?  I think the addition of those three would be excellent.