Iftar Series - Day 14: Senegalese Yassa

Hey there Masset Chefs!

We're making Yassa today! Originally known to be from Casamance, the southern region of Senegal, Yassa is a one of the national dishes in Senegal, after the "Thiebou Dieune", and is best known with its "chicken" version. The pieces of chicken (or fish and meat) are brushed with mustard, sometimes quilted with spices filling such as bay leaves, garlic and crushed onions, marinated in lemon, cooked with lots of onions and sometimes pepper and are usually served with white rice. That's the ritual, the secret to have a great Yassa. Yum! Yassa is a Senegalese dish based on meat, chicken or fish with a sauce of caramelized onions and lemon juice that can be accompanied with white rice. So here, I will try to give you the directions for all three of them. The process is the same for the cooking of the dish in general, besides variations that come with those three main ingredients. Now, let's get down on this recipe, shall we?

INGREDIENTS

• 7 onions

• 2 pounds of meat

• 1 tablespoon of Dijon mustard

• 2 cloves of garlic

• 1 tablespoon of vinegar

• 2 tablespoons of Yassa Much

• 1 teaspoon of 7-Herbs and Garlic

• Salt and pepper

• 1 cup of oil (vegetable or peanut)

• Olives and pickled onions

• 2 Bay leaves

White Rice

• 4 1/2 cups water

• 3 1/2 cups uncooked rice

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 2 tablespoon of olive oil

• 1 can of mix vegetables

PREPARATION

1. Squeeze all the lemons. In a large bowl, put the Dijon mustard, the garlic cloves, the tablespoon of vinegar, Yassa Much, 7-Herbs and Garlic

2. Stir all of this mixture with a wooden spatula, while gently pouring in the squeezed lemon juice

3. In the meantime, slice the onions and put in the marinade. The, reserve for at least 15-30 minutes

4. Clean the meat then marinade with only salt and pepper. In a big saucepan, heat 1 cup of oil and proceed by browning the meat. Then, gently add the marinade with the onions to the meat and stir. Let it simmer for 15 minutes in low heat

5. 2ND STEP : Remove the meat from the sauce, and marinate again before browning it in a pan or in the oven (for 20 minutes) in 350 F

6. Meanwhile, add 3 cups of water to the sauce

7. After 20 minutes, when the sauce is boiling, add the golden pieces of meat, the olives, the bay leaves and the pickled onions. Then, let it simmer over low heat for about fifteen minutes

The rice:

1. Place the rice, water, olive oil and salt into a rice cooker. Cook the rice according to the “white rice” setting on the rice cooker.

2. When the rice has finished cooking, toss the rice. Strain and add the vegetables, taking care to be gentle, and not mash the rice and the vegetables.

PRESENTATION

First, fluff the rice with a fork and serve hot; then serve the sauce over. There is no proper way to serve it but usually we have the meat in the middle! Then we add boiled eggs, sweet or bell peppers, and cucumbers. If you want people to eat separately, you can take several small plates. But traditionally Senegal, everyone eats on the same dish.

As usual, make sure to let us know how it went.

Bon Appetit,

Aby