Golden grilled chicken ready to serve
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Soso ya kotumba

Soso ya kotumba recipe: chicken marinated with aromatics then grilled or roasted until the skin is crisp — Congolese grill food, distinct from poulet mayo.

Region
Kinshasa
Category
Main
Prep
25 min + 2 h marinade
Cook
50 min
Serves
6 people
Level
easy
Photo · Zak Le Messager — Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
6

Ingredients

  • 1 whole chicken or pieces (about 1.5 kg)
  • 2 onions, one grated
  • 4 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 2 cm ginger, grated
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • 3 tbsp oil
  • 1 tsp herbes de Provence or thyme
  • Pili-pili, salt and pepper
  • 1 stock cube, optional

Method

  1. 01 Mix grated onion, garlic, ginger, lemon, oil, herbs, salt, pepper, pili-pili and crumbled cube.
  2. 02 Score the chicken, coat with marinade and chill at least 2 hours.
  3. 03 Par-cook 15–20 minutes with a little water and leftover marinade, or go straight to the grill.
  4. 04 Grill over medium coals (or roast at 200 °C) 30–40 minutes, basting, until the skin is golden and the meat cooked.
  5. 05 Serve with pili-pili sauce, raw onion, fries or plantain.

Video tutorial

Soso ya kotumba — poulet grillé / rôti

Video · letsCOOKwithELLE · Watch on YouTube

Soso ya kotumba (“grilled chicken” in Lingala) is about marinade and fire—not mayo sauce or moambe. In the oven, aim for the same crisp skin as over wood coals.

In the same spirit

Other recipes close by territory or by gesture.

  • Poulet mayo

    Kinshasa

    Poulet mayo recipe: browned chicken coated in mayonnaise with garlic, mustard and pili-pili — a Kinshasa classic for tables and celebrations.

    25 min prep · 45 min cook

  • Pili-pili sauce

    Whole DRC

    Pili-pili sauce recipe: fresh chilies blended with garlic, onion and a little oil — a sharp condiment for grills, fish and Kinshasa tables.

    15 min prep · 10 min cook

  • Braised pork

    Kinshasa

    Pork pieces marinated with aromatics then braised over coals to a golden crust — pork grilling previously missing from the catalogue.

    25 min + 2 h marinating prep · 55 min cook