Recently, I had the opportunity to attend a Senegalese culture orientation class, which was amazing.
The cultural orientation take-home packet included a recipe for yassa poulet, probably the most common Senegalese juice. It’s onion-y and juicy and oily and oh-so-good. Saucy-chicken-and-rice is a common menu item in West Africa; here’s a meal we got at his hotel in Guinea last week.
There seems to be a shortage of chicken in Senegal right now, however. Apparently the chickens might be too skinny this time of year to slaughter them? Ick. In any case, here’s a recipe that was shared in our cultural orientation packet, if you’re interested in bringing a little yassa poulet to your table.
Ingredients
1 chicken, cut into portions (chicken breasts would work fine, too)
6 lemons, juiced
6 large sliced onions
5 crushed garlic cloves
45 ml cooking oil (about 3 tablespoons)
3 chicken bouillon cubes
4 cups water
Salt and pepper
Cooked white rice
Instructions
Mix lemon juice, onions, garlic, oil, bouillon cubes, salt and pepper
Marinate the chicken in this mixture for about 2 hours
Fry or grill chicken until golden on both sides and cooked through
Take the onions from the marinade and brown them in a saucepan
Add remaining marinade plus 4 cups water to saucepan
Simmer marinade for 30 minutes over low heat
Top cooked white rice with chicken, then spoon over marinade
Rachael Cullins is a twentysomething American girl living in Dakar, Senegal, with her husband and two dogs. She blogs about her adventures in Senegal and travels elsewhere in West Africa. She will reside in Dakar until summer 2013, when she and her family will move to another foreign post as part of her husband’s career with the U.S. government. In addition to West Africa, she has traveled to France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Italy and Costa Rica and plans to continually add to that list.
