Yassa Fish and Shrimp
Aperçu
Poisson yassa is the fish version of Senegal's best known dish, and it works on the same principle as chicken yassa: a marinade of lemon, mustard, garlic and onion that becomes the sauce, with a very large quantity of onion cooked down into it. Yassa comes from the Casamance region in southern Senegal and is now made across the country and throughout the Senegalese diaspora. The mustard is a French ingredient absorbed entirely into a Senegalese idiom, and the resemblance the source draws to a French sauce à l'onion is fair as far as it goes, though yassa is sharper and carries far more onion. Four large onions to two and a half pounds of fish is the ratio, and it is not a mistake. The onions cook down into a soft, tangy mass that is as much the dish as the fish is. The technique is straightforward: marinate, cook the fish and set it aside, cook the onions in the leftover marinade, then return the fish to warm through in the sauce. Shrimp can go in alongside. It is served with rice most often, though this version suggests potatoes.
Note de Patrimoine AFN
Yassa originates in the Casamance region of southern Senegal and is made with a marinade of lemon, mustard, garlic and onion. Poisson yassa is the fish version of the dish.
Ingrédients
Les mentions alimentaires sont fournies par les contributeurs à titre indicatif. Elles ne sont pas vérifiées par AFN et dépendent des produits que vous achetez. En cas d’allergie grave, vérifiez vous-même chaque ingrédient. Cuisine, allergies et votre propre jugement
Préparation
- 1
Combine the lemon juice, mustard, garlic, ginger, bouillon, salt and pepper into a marinade.
- 2
Douse the fish with the marinade and refrigerate for an hour, or preferably overnight.
- 3
In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat until hot, then add the fish. Cook each side for about 5 to 7 minutes until cooked through and crisp on both sides. Remove the fish and set aside.
- 4
In the same pan, fry the sliced onions along with the marinade left over from the fish for about 5 minutes.
- 5
Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper.
- 6
Return the fish to the onion sauce, adding shrimp at this point if using.
- 7
Simmer for another 5 to 8 minutes until the flavours come together.
- 8
Serve with rice, or with baked and fried potatoes.
Notes de l’Africook
- Four onions to two and a half pounds of fish looks excessive and is correct. They cook down into the sauce and are as much the dish as the fish.
- Marinate overnight if you can. An hour works, but the lemon and mustard need time to get into the flesh.
- Cook the fish first and take it out. Left in while the onions cook down it falls apart completely.
- Use the leftover marinade to cook the onions. It carries the whole flavour of the dish and throwing it away is the most common mistake.
- Firm fish holds up best. Whole fish steaks, kingfish, grouper or snapper all work better than delicate fillets.
- Add shrimp at the very end. They need two or three minutes at most and turn rubbery beyond that.
Questions fréquentes
What is yassa?
Yassa is a Senegalese dish built on a marinade of lemon, mustard, garlic and onion that becomes the sauce. It originates in the Casamance region of southern Senegal. Chicken yassa is the best known version; poisson yassa uses fish, and lamb versions exist. The very large quantity of onion is common to all of them.
What fish should I use?
A firm fish that holds together through cooking and reheating in the sauce. Kingfish, grouper, snapper and whole fish steaks all work well. Delicate white fillets such as sole or plaice fall apart. In Senegal thiof, a large grouper, is the traditional and prized choice.
Why so much onion?
Because the onions are half the dish rather than a seasoning. Cooked down in the acidic marinade they become soft and tangy and form the body of the sauce. Reducing them substantially leaves a thin lemon-mustard sauce with fish in it, which is not the same thing at all.
What is it served with?
Plain white rice, most commonly, which soaks up the sauce. This version suggests baked and fried potatoes, which is a less traditional but perfectly good pairing. Whatever you choose, something plain and starchy is the right accompaniment, since the sauce is sharp and assertive.
Avis
2 avis
Got some fresh croaker steaks and jumbo shrimp from Your DeKalb Farmers Market yesterday to try this. abeg make sure you really let the fish sit in that mustard and garlic marinade overnight, it makes all the difference! Frying the sliced onions in the leftover pan oil after taking the fish out gave them so much flavor o. E sweet no be small thing.
used red snapper steaks from the butcher near Seven Sisters station since i couldnt get bream. those 4 large onions need a bit longer than 5 minutes to really soften and absorb the leftover mustard marinade in the pan, so give them time oo. taste just like my senegalese friends mothers version paa