Chicken Yassa (Senegalese Braised Chicken with Caramelized Onion and Lemon)
By Erica TurnerPublished on December 4, 2023
Time
1¾ hours, plus 30 minutes marinating
Yield
Serves 4 to 6
Ingredients
Before You Begin
We like the mild-to-moderate heat of half a habanero or serrano. Make it spicier by using a whole chile (poked with a fork) or milder by seeding the chile before use. Braised hibiscus leaves (widely eaten in Senegal) are a traditional accompaniment, but cooked spinach seasoned with lemon juice is a fine alternative.
Instructions
- Whisk ⅓ cup lemon juice, 1½ tablespoons oil, mustard, and 1 teaspoon salt together in large bowl. Add chicken and toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or up to 1 hour.
- Heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil in large Dutch oven over medium heat until shimmering. Using tongs, remove chicken from marinade and drag pieces against rim of bowl to scrape excess marinade back into bowl; do not discard marinade. Transfer chicken to pot, skin side down, and cook until skin is golden brown, 6 to 8 minutes. Flip chicken and brown on second side, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer chicken to large plate.
- Add onions and remaining ½ teaspoon salt to pot; reduce heat to medium-low; and cook, stirring frequently and scraping browned bits from bottom of pot, until onions are softened and caramelized, 25 to 30 minutes.
- Stir in broth, garlic, habanero, pepper, and reserved marinade and bring to simmer. Return chicken and any accumulated juices to pot. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, until sauce has thickened to consistency of heavy cream and chicken is very tender (meat should begin to fall from bone and fork will slip easily in and out of meat), 45 to 55 minutes.
- Spread rice in even layer on large platter. Arrange chicken on top of rice. Stir remaining 2 tablespoons lemon juice into sauce and season with salt and pepper to taste. Spoon sauce and onions over and around chicken and rice. Sprinkle with parsley and serve with lemon wedges.
Chicken Yassa (Senegalese Braised Chicken with Caramelized Onion and Lemon)
Time
1¾ hours, plus 30 minutes marinatingYield
Serves 4 to 6Ingredients
Ingredients
Ingredients
Why This Recipe Works
Chicken yassa, the iconic braise from the Casamance region in Southern Senegal, features fork-tender meat that's been marinated; grilled or seared on the stove; braised with a bright, sumptuous sauce flavored with caramelized onions, lemon, mustard, garlic, and hot chile; and sunk into a mound of rice. Briefly marinating chicken thighs (tailor-made for braising, thanks to their abundance of fat and collagen) in a mixture of lemon juice, mustard, oil, and salt moistened, seasoned, and helped the meat retain moisture during cooking and coated its surface with bright flavor. Searing the meat on the stove meant that its rendered fat and flavorful fond were available for caramelizing the onions—2 full pounds, equal to the weight of the chicken, so that there were plenty of them to smother the chicken even after they shrunk down during cooking. Braising the chicken in the reserved marinade (along with chicken broth, garlic, and habanero) suffused it with lemony, mustardy tang; we cooked it for the better part of an hour, so it was practically falling off the bone. The sauce was finished with more lemon juice, and it and the chicken were served family-style over a bed of rice along with more lemon wedges for a last-minute burst of flavor.
Want more? Read the whole storyBefore You Begin
We like the mild-to-moderate heat of half a habanero or serrano. Make it spicier by using a whole chile (poked with a fork) or milder by seeding the chile before use. Braised hibiscus leaves (widely eaten in Senegal) are a traditional accompaniment, but cooked spinach seasoned with lemon juice is a fine alternative.
Instructions
- Whisk ⅓ cup lemon juice, 1½ tablespoons oil, mustard, and 1 teaspoon salt together in large bowl. Add chicken and toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or up to 1 hour.
- Heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil in large Dutch oven over medium heat until shimmering. Using tongs, remove chicken from marinade and drag pieces against rim of bowl to scrape excess marinade back into bowl; do not discard marinade. Transfer chicken to pot, skin side down, and cook until skin is golden brown, 6 to 8 minutes. Flip chicken and brown on second side, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer chicken to large plate.
- Add onions and remaining ½ teaspoon salt to pot; reduce heat to medium-low; and cook, stirring frequently and scraping browned bits from bottom of pot, until onions are softened and caramelized, 25 to 30 minutes.
- Stir in broth, garlic, habanero, pepper, and reserved marinade and bring to simmer. Return chicken and any accumulated juices to pot. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, until sauce has thickened to consistency of heavy cream and chicken is very tender (meat should begin to fall from bone and fork will slip easily in and out of meat), 45 to 55 minutes.
- Spread rice in even layer on large platter. Arrange chicken on top of rice. Stir remaining 2 tablespoons lemon juice into sauce and season with salt and pepper to taste. Spoon sauce and onions over and around chicken and rice. Sprinkle with parsley and serve with lemon wedges.
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