Daniel's Recipe for
MOQUECA DE PEIXE
(Afro-Brazilian Coconut Milk-Based Fish Stew)
Here is the recipe (English, sorry) for my moqueca famosa. Thanks
to Sueli Chiozzoto for playing anthropologist by noting down the output of this long oral tradition while I prepared it in an unconscious, practically ecstatic manner. The recipe itself was explained to me, I kid you not, in Salvador, Bahia itself, in 1992, by a woman who, on occasion, would be possessed by the spirit of another woman who had comitted suicide. She's disappeared since. But that's a story for another day... Note that, as with children, with recipes there are no guarantees...
Note: this quantity serves 8-10 people, and stultifies 6 very hungry ones.
Ingredients:
-
2-4 cloves garlic
-
1 tbsp vegetable oil
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2 large onions, cut in large pieces
-
8 small (Roma) tomatoes, deseeded and cut in large pieces
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1 can coconut milk (while you could use as much as 2 cans, I believe the flavors are more interesting/intense this way.)
-
1-2 kilos white fish, cut into 2" cubes (swordfish is perfect, halibut is OK, sole falls apart.)
-
2 limes
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1 cup (8oz) palm oil (dende) -- this is a matter of personal taste -- you can get away with a lot less, but I do believe it is necessary.
-
1 large handful of cilantro, well chopped up after removing tough stems
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salt
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pepper
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boiled rice (prepared separately; ask your mother for instructions)
Optional ingredients:
(Note: none of these are necessary to make official moqueca)
- Small can (6 oz.) of tomato paste (highly recommended)
- 2-4 cubes chicken bouillon (also recommended))
- 1-2 jalapeno (hot) peppers, very finely diced
- 1 kilo shrimp and/or crabmeat
- 1-2 green peppers, cut in large pieces (I scorn green peppers in moqueca, but I believe one must admit it's a possibility)
Instructions:
Before you start chopping, marinate the seafood in vinegar, lime juice, salt,
pepper, hot pepper, and garlic, for at least 30 minutes beforehand.
Or if you're lazy, just squeeze one of the limes over the seafood.
With the oil at medium heat, brown the garlic in a large pot. Then throw
in the onions, tomatoes, and (optional) green peppers, stirring them
regularly for 3-5 minutes, or until the onions are a bit soft.
Add the coconut milk, tomato paste, buillion cubes, and hot peppers to the
pot and stir it around until well mixed. Then put in the fish, and squeeze
the remaining lime juice into the pot. Bring the pot to a boil, then
reduce the flame.
After five minutes (since the fish was introduced) add the shrimp,
crabmeat, and palm oil. Watch out for the palm oil, as it will never come
out of your clothes. Boil for about 2 minutes, to mix the palm oil in and cook
the seafood. Finally stir in the cilantro, let it soften a bit, and salt
and pepper to taste. Done! Serve it over white rice.
By the way, I hate to admit this, but I make it differently
each time, so contact me if you'd like to know about the latest innovations.