Chicken Yassa – a Senegalese national dish

Yassa is a spicy, hot dish from Senegal or Gambia

It consists of beef, chicken or fish marinated with lime juice, mustard and lots of onions.

I used chicken legs for this recipe. However, I can also imagine it with tofu or “quorn”.

The chicken is marinated for at least an hour so that the flavor of the limes, onions, and mustard transfers nicely to the chicken.

However, you can also marinate it very well the night before and then let it sit in the fridge until the next day.

Actually, chicken Yassa is easy to prepare and also cooked quickly. But it needs some planning because the marinade must infuse. And that takes some time.

You can determine the spiciness of the marinade yourself with chili flakes or cayenne.

As a side dish for chicken Yassa, you can have rice and vegetables, according to taste. Peppers or carrots go well with it, or a salad with vegetables, lettuce, and fruit. For example, capsicum, iceberg lettuce, and mango.

I ate this dish for the first time at “Afro-Pfingsten“.

Afro-Pfingsten is an event in Winterthur/Switzerland, which always takes place in the week before Pentecost.

As the name says, it’s a festival around Africa. With great concerts, a big market with African products and a world market. And of course, with food stalls selling dishes from all over Africa! For three days you can eat your way through a whole continent and get to know many new tastes.

I have been participating in this market for 15 years – with my spice and tea stall. Unfortunately, this colorful, cheerful festival was not held at all last year and this year only as a streaming festival (2020/2021).

So, without further ado, I cooked my own Afro-Pfingsten food.

What is your favorite African food?

Here’s the recipe: