Bafá-assá in the Macau patuá means to braise and then roast. The original recipe fries the chicken. This image shows two chickens braised and roasted.

1 whole chicken
1 tbsp dried onions
½ clove of garlic, finely minced
2 tsp turmeric
1 large onions, diced
2 potatoes, cut in 2cm cubes
salt and pepper to taste
oil for frying

Wash the chicken, split it along its back and open it flat.

Sprinkle it with salt, pepper, turmeric and dried onions and let it stand for an hour.

Sauté the diced onion in a little oil and add it to the chicken, pressing with a spoon.

Place the chicken breast down in a wok or wide saucepan, add the cubed potatoes, cover with water and simmer gently. When the potatoes are cooked, remove them and set them aside.

Turn the chicken onto its back and continue cooking the chicken until done.

Remove the chicken and continue cooking the sauce until it is thick and reduced to about a cupful.

Heat oil in a wide saucepan; fry the potatoes and array them on a dish.

Finally fry the chicken breast side down, place on dish and pour the sauce over.

Serve with boiled rice cooked in a little salt. (Optionally, add a little turmeric to the rice before cooking for colour.)

In Macanese cuisine, when cooking with turmeric, often a touch of vinegar was added to balance the taste (in the patuá “para tirar amiz” — to take away an unpleasant taste)

Notes:

To facilitate handling the chicken, truss it with string and use a rack to flip it over.

After braising, pull out the ribs and other small bones.