WHY Cook Brazilian Food?

When I first decided to make a Brazilian dish, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I didn’t have any background knowledge on the culture, history, region, or even famous dishes. I knew I had a friend from high school from Sao Paolo, and that there was a fancy restaurant in downtown Birmingham that served endless meat and that was “Brazilian.”

My mom grew up in Florence, Alabama and my Dad in New Orleans, Louisiana. Both of these southern regions of the U.S. have had an effect on my life and the way I eat food. I love my Mom’s country cooking and my Dad’s Cajun upbringing. So, when I started to research some on Brazil, I homed in on an area known as Bahia.

Bahia immediately caught my eye because it was on an episode of Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown. I love watching this show, and when watching the episode about Bahia, Brazil, I immediately noticed how cool it looked when Bourdain walked through the roaring streets full of laughter, music, and dancing. Right then and there, I knew I needed to try some of that food whether it be a fried Acarajé or some spicy Moqueca. I decided to try to cook Moqueca because it was at the top of the list for famous Brazilian foods, plus, it looked delicious.

BEFORE

So, this whole dish is a seafood stew with some rice; all the ingredients you can find at almost any grocery store. You’re going to want one and a half pounds of Mahi Mahi (you can substitute any fish here), eight ounces of shrimp (I’d recommend already peeled and deveined), two limes, seven cloves of garlic (minced or a jar of already minced garlic), ginger (minced), melted palm oil (I just used vegetable oil. Palm oil is better for you though), two teaspoons of red pepper flakes, sliced onion, sliced bell peppers, chopped tomatoes, one cup of fish stock (vegetable stock also works as a substitute), one cup of coconut milk, cilantro, basil, salt, pepper, one to two cups of rice (recipe recommended jasmine rice and it turned out great with that).

PREPERATION WORK

Once you have all your groceries, you can start! I know you can buy already chopped onions and peppers and all that stuff, but I wanted to go all out and do every step the long way. So, for prep work, you need to chop all your vegetables and slice all that needs to be sliced. Another part of the prep work includes marinating. The fish and shrimp need to marinate for about thirty minutes before being put into the stew, so I would honestly start with that and then start chopping and the rest of the cooking, so you can be doing other things while the fish marinates. Combine the fish (Mahi Mahi), shrimp, lime juice, garlic, ginger and oil in a bowl. Then “toss,” all these ingredients, and let them marinate for 30 minutes (to be sanitary I put the bowl in the refrigerator to marinate). After you finished chopping and starting the rice (see below) and 30 minutes have gone by, drain the fish and shrimp. It will be put in to the stew later!

RICE

The rice was fairly simple. You just need to follow the instructions on the package. Boil the amount of water it says and add the rice.

STEW!

The stew got a little bit more involved, but after a few steps it’s a waiting game! The was a fun part of the process because you get to start just dumping stuff in and tasting. First, put in your oil, then add the garlic, red pepper flakes, onions and bell peppers and sauté for four to five minutes until the onions are “soft.” To sauté, just turn the heat on high and make sure the ingredients aren’t burning! This part you really need to stand over it. This might be self-explanatory, but to know how an onion is soft, just poke the onions with the utensil you are using to sauté and if they seem soft, that is when they are “done.” After the sauté is complete, put in the tomatoes and stir. Salt and pepper as needed. Then turn the heat down and “nestle” the seafood at the bottom of the pot. I personally just used a spoon and made little spots for it all to sit in, like eggs in an egg container. Immediately following, pour in the fish stock (or vegetable stock) and the coconut milk to the pan. It should just about cover the fish and shrimp. Lower the heat again, cover the pot and cook for about 10 minutes. Add the different seasonings (lime, cilantro, basil, salt and pepper) to your liking. After the 10 minutes, check and see if the fish flakes apart and if so, it is done.

SERVE

To serve, I put my rice in a small bowl and then using a ladle poured the stew over the rice in the bowl. This is the part that reminded me of New Orleans a lot because it reminded me of Gumbo except there was no roux and it was so much spicier! But enjoy!

Recipe

  • • For the Fish
  • • 1 1/2 pounds Mahi Mahi, cut into large chunks
  • • 8 ounces shrimp, peeled and de-veined
  • • 1 lime, juiced
  • • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • • 1 inch ginger, minced
  • • 1 tablespoon palm oil, melted
  • •
  • • For the Stew
  • • 2 tablespoons palm oil
  • • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • • 2 teaspoons red pepper flakes
  • • 1 onion, finely sliced
  • • 1 cups bell peppers, finely sliced
  • • 1 cup chopped tomatoes
  • • 1 cup fish stock (vegetable stock works too)
  • • 1 cup coconut milk
  • • 1 lime
  • • 1/4 cup fresh cilantro
  • • 1/4 cup fresh basil
  • • Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper
  • • 1-2 cups jasmine rice

INSTRUCTIONS

For the Fish

  1. 1. Combine the Mahi Mahi, shrimp, lime juice, garlic, ginger and palm oil in a large bowl. Toss everything together to combine and let the fish marinate for 20-30 minutes.
  2. 2. After marinating, drain the fish and shrimp of any excess liquid. Meanwhile, cook the rice according to the package directions. Set aside once done.

For the Stew

  1. 3. In a large heavy dutch oven, melt the palm oil over medium high heat. Add the garlic, red pepper flakes, onions and bell peppers and sauté for 4-5 minutes until fragrant and the onions are softened. Add the chopped tomatoes and stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper.
  1. 4. Reduce the heat to medium and nestle the marinated Mahi Mahi and shrimp in the bottom of the dutch oven. Season the fish with salt and pepper and then add the fish stock and coconut milk to the pan. It should just about cover the fish and shrimp.
  1. 5. Bring the stew to a simmer, cover, and cook for about 10 minutes until the shrimp is cooked and the fish easily flakes apart. Taste and season with the juice of 1 lime, more if you’d like, and add the cilantro, basil and more salt if desired.
  1. 6. Serve the stew over the jasmine rice.

Notes

Preparing to cook

If you can’t Palm Oil, or don’t want to order it, you can easily use vegetable oil and add in a teaspoon or two of paprika to give the dish it’s red color.