Yassa recipe

Chicken marinated overnight in lemon and mustard, charred on the grill, then buried under a kilo of slow-cooked onions that form the sauce itself.

13 hours and 40 minutesmedium11 ingredients

Ingredients

• 1000 g onions
• 3 tbsp dijon mustard
• 150 ml lemon juice
• 1 whole chicken
• 4 clove garlic
• 1 scotch bonnet chili
• 3 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 300 g white rice

How to make Yassa

1. Slice 1 kg of onions thinly. The weight is not a mistake: in yassa there is as much onion as chicken, and the onions are the sauce, not a garnish.
2. Mix the onions with 150 ml of lemon juice, 3 tablespoons of dijon mustard, 4 crushed garlic cloves, 2 tablespoons of oil, 1 teaspoon of salt and 1 teaspoon of black pepper.
3. Bury 1 chicken cut into 8 pieces in this onion marinade, cover, and leave it in the fridge overnight, 6 hours at the very least.
4. Lift out the chicken, wipe the onions off it, and grill or broil the pieces until the skin is charred in places, 5 to 6 minutes a side. That smoke is part of the dish.
5. Cook the drained onions in 1 tablespoon of oil over low heat for 25 to 30 minutes, until soft and golden, without letting them colour too fast.
6. Add the leftover marinade liquid, 2 bay leaves and 1 whole scotch bonnet, and simmer 10 minutes to cook out the raw lemon.
7. Return the chicken, pour in 200 ml of water, cover and simmer 25 minutes until the meat comes away from the bone.
8. Taste for salt and acidity, then remove the chili and the bay leaves.
9. Serve on 300 g of white rice with the onion sauce heaped over the chicken.

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