MOQUECA (BRAZILIAN FISH STEW)

Moqueca (Brazilian Fish Stew) image

This Brazilian dish may contain a few unexpected or even unfamiliar ingredients, but they are easy to find online and worth the search. The result is a tropical fish stew mellowed by slices of plantain and coconut milk and accompanied by the traditional hot sauce called piri-piri and farofa, the toasted cassava-meal accompaniment. Farofa is served all over South America with all kinds of dishes; this version, with caramelized onions adapted from Felipe Amaral in Rio de Janeiro, was my favorite. You can serve the moqueca without the farofa, if you prefer, but it helps to sop up the soupy liquid from the stew.

Provided by Florence Fabricant

Time 2h30m

Yield 4 to 6 servings

Number Of Ingredients 23

Ingredients

5 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 medium onion, sliced thin
1 1/2 cups manioc or cassava meal, available online and in some specialty food shops
1 3/4 pounds black sea bass, filleted, trimmings reserved
12 ounces large shrimp, peeled, shells reserved
Salt
2 bay leaves
1 small white turnip, peeled and diced
3 medium onions
4 large plum tomatoes
6 ounces shishito peppers, chopped
2 cloves garlic
1/3 cup chopped cilantro
1/4 cup chopped chives
1 green plantain
1/2 red bell pepper, cut in rings
2 green Cubanelle peppers, green frying peppers or 1 small green bell pepper, cut in rings
10 ounces unsweetened coconut milk
4 tablespoons dendê oil, or red palm oil, available online
6 ounces cooked octopus tentacles, cut in thick slices, or raw squid in thin rings
1 long red chile pepper, for garnish
1/2 cup long grain rice, steamed
Piri-piri or other hot sauce, for serving

Steps:

Make the farofa if desired: Melt butter in a skillet or shallow saucepan on medium heat. Add sliced onion, and cook, stirring, until it turns light brown. Stir in manioc and cook, stirring, 5 to 8 minutes, until it starts to toast. Cover and keep warm.
Make the fish broth: Cut each bass fillet in 4 or 5 pieces, cover and refrigerate. Place trimmings in a 3-quart stovetop casserole, preferably an earthenware pot. Lightly salt shrimp, cover and refrigerate. Place shells in the pot. Add 5 cups water; the bay leaves; the turnip; 2 onions, chopped; 2 tomatoes, chopped; half the shishito peppers; the garlic; and half the cilantro and chives. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer about 45 minutes, until vegetables are tender.
Heat oven to 450 degrees. Cut a slit in the skin of the plantain, wrap in foil and bake 20 minutes, until flesh is tender. Cool.
Strain broth into a bowl, pressing on the solids. Discard solids and return broth to pot. Cook over medium heat until reduced to 1 1/2 cups.
Slice remaining tomatoes and remaining onion 1/4 inch thick and add to pot. Add bell peppers, Cubanelle peppers, remaining shishito peppers, remaining chives and all but 1 tablespoon remaining cilantro. Bring to a simmer and cook about 20 minutes, until vegetables are tender.
Peel plantain and slice it 1/2 inch thick. Add to pot. Add coconut milk and dende oil. Add fish and octopus, if using, and simmer 5 minutes. Rinse and dry shrimp and squid, if using, and add to pot. Simmer 3 minutes. Check seasonings. Strew remaining cilantro on top, garnish with a red chile and serve over rice directly from the pot, with farofa and piri-piri on the side.

Nutrition Facts : @context http, Calories 696, UnsaturatedFat 10 grams, Carbohydrate 62 grams, Fat 33 grams, Fiber 4 grams, Protein 41 grams, SaturatedFat 21 grams, Sodium 1288 milligrams, Sugar 11 grams, TransFat 0 grams