Galinha à Africana (African Chicken)
Macau's famous chicken dish, genuinely not African in origin despite its name — it's a Macanese invention traced to African colonial troops from Mozambique, Angola, and Portuguese Guinea stationed at Macau's garrison from the 1940s onward, some of whom retired locally and opened restaurants serving African-influenced Portuguese food. Its chile base is peri-peri, the African bird's-eye chile Portuguese traders encountered in Mozambique and Angola and folded into their own cooking, while the coconut milk reflects Portugal's Goa trade route and the five-spice powder reflects Macau's own Chinese heritage — a genuine multi-continent fusion, not a dish transplanted from Africa itself.
⚠ Contains: Peanut. Always check your own ingredients — this isn't a guarantee for severe allergies.
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken, cut into pieces
- 3 tbsp peri-peri or piri-piri paste (or crushed dried bird's-eye chile plus paprika)
- 400ml coconut milk
- 3 tbsp peanut butter or ground peanuts
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 tsp five-spice powder
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 tbsp white wine or wine vinegar
- Olive oil
Steps
- Marinate the chicken in garlic, paprika, peri-peri, and wine or vinegar.
- Sauté the onion and garlic, then brown the chicken.
- Add the coconut milk, peanut butter, bay leaf, and five-spice powder, and simmer until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce thickens.
- Finish under a grill or broiler to char the top.
- Serve with rice or bread.