This recipe for Poisson Yassa is a slight variation from the Poulet Yassa. We had this dish a number of times while travelling in the Gambia and Senegal. First, a white fish is grilled, then it is topped with a sweet and sour onion sauce and served with rice. The ingredients are very simple and can be found in most countries. The sour lime juice seems to bring out the sweetness of the onions. It’s a delicious and healthy dish.
As a variation, instead of grilling the fish, I used the air fryer. The marinade with oil helps to keep the fish moist, and the air fryer gives it a grilled crisp on the top.
Ingredients
4 whole sea bream or 8 fillets (or about 600g monkfish)
6 medium onions
1 tsp mustard powder
2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
2-3 limes
1 red chili, de-seeded and minced
2 Bay leaves
200 ml vegetable oil
Pinch of salt
Pinch of freshly ground black pepper
2 c broken rice, cooked
Instructions
First, peel the onions. Next, for two of the onions, chop them finely. Then for the other four onions, cut them in half then slice them. Set aside the sliced onions in a bowl and cover them.
In a medium bowl, prepare the marinade by combining 100ml oil, juice from the limes, the chopped onions, and minced garlic. Add salt and pepper to taste. If using whole fish, the remove the head and cut the rest into pieces and put into a baking dish. Next, pour the marinade over the fish, cover and chill in the marinade for an hour.
Pre-heat the oven to 170C. For the fish, first remove the marinade and onions and put these in a bowl for use later. Then cover the dish with foil, and bake it in the oven for about 12-15 minutes.
In the meantime, prepare the sliced onions. First, heat the remaining 100ml oil in a large frying pan. Then add the onions, chili, mustard powder and Bay leaves. Cook the onions until the are soft and caramelised. Add the liquid marinade and cook until most liquid has evaporated. Finally, remove the Bay leaves before serving.
Serve the fish with a scoop of broken rice and a portion of the onions.
Air fryer variation
Instead of using the oven, you can prepare the fish in an air fryer. Cook for 10-12 minutes at 180C, until the fish is lightly browned on top. Then follow the rest of the recipe above.
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