Moqueca Bahiana
Moqueca is said to be from both the south and the north-east of Brazil. Two kinds exist moqueca bahiana from Bahia and moqueca capixaba from Espírito Santo. This recipe is for the northern variation.
With some heavy African influence and sometimes cooked in clay earthenware, moqueca has some tasty additions from the new world. This stew is hearty and invigorating at the same time.
Ingredients
- 1.5 kg of firm fish like monkfish or cod, ideally small shark or swordfish (we used trout and it was firm enough)
- 2 tbs of Palm oil (sometimes called Dendê Oil or Azeite-de-dendê)
- 1 large onions, diced
- 2 large tomatoes, one chopped, one sliced
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 250 ml (half a can) of coconut milk (optional)
- 2 red and green bell peppers (optional)
Marinade
- the juice of 2 limes
- 1 onion, diced
- ½ cup fresh coriander, minced
- 1 malagueta pepper or other mild variation, chopped
- 1 cup of water
- salt & pepper
Farofa (not really optional)
- 1 cup toasted cassava flour mixture (called farofa)
- 1 tsp palm oil or 1 tbs butter
- ½ an onion, diced
- fresh coriander to taste
Procedure
Start with the fish, cut into thick slices, and removing all small bones so they dont wander into the stew later on.
You might want to put your palm oil in hot water, as it tends to solidify at the bottom, and a lot of the flavor of the moqueca depends on this.
Mix your marinade together and submerge the fish in it, you can turn over the pieces every hour for a good 2 to 3 hours. Meanwhile get to work on the other ingredients.
Grab your largest heaviest pan, (a pot will do but a iron pan is used traditionally) and add the palm oil, heat it up and add the onions, and after a minute or two the garlic.
Some recipes include chopped bell peppers at this point, but I’ll leave that up to you.
Add the chopped tomato but not the slices, and stir in the fish with the marinade and wait until it all boils. Now add the coconut milk (if any) and stir very gently before putting the tomato slices, then stir no more. Put the lid on your moqueca and let it boil at medium heat for 15 min.
If you are going to make farofa, you will need to melt the butter or add palm oil to a pan and throw the onions in, when they are slightly brown, turn off the fire and add the cassava and the coriander. Stir well.
When the time is up check that the fish is done, then serve in a deep plate with white rice (and farofa) on the side.
This recipe will serve 4 hungry stew lovers.