🇬🇲 Gambian Cuisine

Yassa Fish

Lemon-Onion Braised Fish

Prep Time 1 hour
Servings 4
Difficulty Medium
Calories 388 kcal

Fresh fish marinated in lemon juice and mustard, then pan-fried and smothered in a tangy caramelized onion sauce with olives and Scotch bonnet.

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. 1 Marinate fish in lemon juice, mustard, garlic, salt, and pepper for one hour.
  2. 2 Remove fish and pat dry, reserving marinade. Pan-fry fish in oil until golden on both sides.
  3. 3 In the same pan, add more oil and cook onions slowly until deeply caramelized, about twenty minutes.
  4. 4 Add reserved marinade, olives, bay leaf, Scotch bonnet, and Maggi cubes to the onions.
  5. 5 Return fish to the pan, add water, and simmer covered for fifteen minutes.
  6. 6 Serve fish topped with the onion sauce alongside steamed rice.

Did You Know?

The fish version of yassa is often preferred over chicken along the Gambian coast, where fresh catches from the Atlantic are available daily.