YASSA, also known as POULET YASSA or YASSA GUINAAR, is a traditional chicken stew from Casamance, in the south of Senegal, and one of the most popular dishes from West Africa. It also can be prepared with fish instead of chicken (POISON YASSA).

YASSA GUINAAR is a delicious stew consisting of chicken marinated in lemon, lots of onions and some carrots. Chicken pieces are then cooked over medium-high heat until the marinade becomes a sauce in itself. This process results in an incredibly tasty and tender meat that is traditionally served with rice or couscous.

Ingredients:

• 4 chicken breasts,
• salt and pepper,
• 2 bay leaves,
• 3 onion thinly sliced,
• 4 garlic cloves,
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard,
• 1/4 cup of peanut or vegetable oil,
• 2 lemons, juice only,
• 1 hot chilli pepper, minced.

Total Time: 5 hrs 5 min
Prep Time: 10 min
Cook Time: 55 min
Marinating Time: 4 hrs

Method

• Rub some salt on chicken breasts,
• Place the chicken in a baking pan with all the ingredients and mix,
• Cover baking the pan with foil and keep in the fridge overnight or at least 4 hours,
• Heat the oven to 200ºC fan,
• Place the chicken in the oven still covered,
• Allow to cook for about 40 min. Then remove the foil cover and place back for another 15 min, so that the onions are starting to brown,
• Remove from heat and serve over rice, fufu or couscous.

>> POISSON YASSA: Substitute 2 or 3 pounds of firm fish fillets for the chicken. Marinating time only needs to be 30 minutes to an hour in this case. Grill the fish and sauté the onions. Then simmer the marinade without the fish for 10 to 15 minutes. Finally, add the marinated grilled fish and simmer for 10 minutes more.