Chicken Mafe

Colonialism didn't bring Vietnamese fish sauce to the kitchens of Senegal. The depth of flavor in authentic mafe comes from small amounts of potent smoked dried fish. It is the je ne sais quois of mafe, just as fish sauce provides the je ne sais quoi of many southeast Asian dishes. In this recipe fish sauce is a convenient substitution for dried fish, and that's why is should be added.

Uuy. And that's not even counting a healthy serving of white rice to soak up the sauce. I learned how to make a version of this from a Gambian friend in high school and he used much less oil (maybe 2-3 T.) and peanut butter (about 1/2 cup for a 3 to 3-1/2 pound chicken). Still very tasty.I love this dish but if you don't want to use up your entire daily calorie allowance in a single meal, I think you can reduce the high-calorie ingredients without suffering much loss of taste.

I used to live in Senegal and have made this many times. A few of suggestions: 1.) ditch the cabbage and add eggplant instead. Throw it in early so it’s browned and a little mushy. Cube it and salt it beforehand to get rid of the bitterness. 2.) Powdered PB works great and mixes well. Good for controlling how much peanut flavor you receive. 3.) Ditch the tomato paste and blend up some sun-dried tomatoes. Better flavor. This was my fav dish living in the village. Enjoy!

I grew up in Senegal and Mafe is by far my favorite dish. I never liked cabbage, so I don’t include it—but occasionally it’s a nice addition. You can add all kinds of veggies, replace the chicken with lamb or beef and it’s just as good. Two secrets are the fish sauce (dried, salted fish is the real trick) & leaving this to just simmer for way longer than the recipe requests. The oil should really separate and sit on the sauce. Mafe is magic! Please, please visit Senegal or make it yourself.

This worked really well in the slow cooker. The chicken practically fell off the bone. I followed the recipe up to the point of adding the peanut butter in Step 3 and used boiling water. The liquid went into the slow cooker followed by the marinated chicken and then everything else. After 8 hours on low, it was perfect and the guys loved it. I used the skins to make Chicken-Skin Canapés which went over pretty well too. A great snack with beer.

In the note above it mentions that fish sauce is relevant because of Vietnamese influence in Senegal. The real reason it makes sense is that this dish often has dried salt fish as an ingredient when it is cooked in cities and villages in Senegal. This dried fish is a very traditional flavoring that is used in many dishes. This ingredient is not readily available in the US and the fish sauce is a reasonable alternative.

Colonialism didn't bring Vietnamese fish sauce to the kitchens of Senegal. The depth of flavor in authentic mafe comes from small amounts of potent smoked dried fish. It is the je ne sais quois of mafe, just as fish sauce provides the je ne sais quoi of many southeast Asian dishes. In this recipe fish sauce is a convenient substitution for dried fish, and that's why is should be added, not for the reason stated in the intro.

I made a vegetarian version of this (substituting Bragg's Liquid Aminos for the fish sauce). I marinated and sauteed tofu (instead of the chicken) and threw it in right at the end, after all the veggies were done. Fabulous!

Wonderful dish! I used bone-in chicken thighs. Before serving, I removed the tender chicken meat from the bones in large chunks and added it back into the stew, discarding the bones. Used Smucker's Natural creamy PB (unsweetened), and it worked great.

I followed the advice of LMK and used a third of a cup of peanut butter which was just right and added the cabbage last after I turned off the stove. It only cooked lightly then,so retained a bit of fresh crunch. I also included lemon juice to freshen it up. Lime would work too, but the lemon tree is producing right now. Fresh coriander leaves (cilantro) would be great if I had some.

I made this according to the recipe for a work potluck, and it was rated from “I could eat this entire bowl by myself.” to “this is fire” (as in a good thing, not a spicy thing, according to the kool kids). Definitely a winner.

Rich, complex, delicious and inexpensive. Made for potluck, was well received. Minor modifications based on others notes: Cut oil to 1 T, used boneless skinless thighs cut into bite-sized pieces, added cabbage with potatoes. Used freshly ground peanuts from local grocery deli, froze scotch bonnet and used micro plane grater to grate the frozen pepper into the stew just before serving for a diffuse, subtle heat. Served with a scotch bonnet hot sauce on the side.

The fish sauce makes sense but not for the reason stated in the introduction. The depth of flavor in mafe comes from small amounts of potent smoked dried fish. It is the je ne sais quois of mafe, just as fish sauce provides the je ne sais quoi of many south east Asian dishes. In this recipe fish sauce is a convenient substitution for dried fish, and that's why is should be added. Colonialism didn't bring Vietnamese fish sauce to the kitchens of Senegal.

Asian shrimp paste would also work.

Won't the cabbage disintegrate if cooked this long? Seems as though it should be added later...