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Bahian prawn stew (moqueca baiana)
moqueca baiana de camarão
Prawns layered between rounds of onion, tomato and pepper in a clay pot, covered with coconut milk and red palm oil (dendê) and cooked until everything is tender. Chef Tereza Paim's recipe from Salvador, as given to the Bahian newspaper Correio.
- Servings
- 4
- Preparation
- 20 min
- Cooking
- 30 min
- Total
- 50 min
- Difficulty
- Easy
Equipment
- Clay pot (panela de barro) or a heavy wide casserole with a lid
Ingredients
Method
Season the prawns with salt and garlic.
Make a bed of half the onion, tomato and pepper rounds in the clay pot. Lay the prawns on top and cover with the rest of the vegetables. Scatter over the chives and coriander.
Why The vegetables release their water and steam the prawns gently from above and below.
Pour the coconut milk and dendê over everything. Cover and cook over a medium-low heat until the vegetables are soft and the prawns are pink and opaque.
Timer · 25 min25:00Taste for salt and serve from the pot.
To drink & serve with
Usually eaten with white rice, pirão and farofa (editorial note).
Substitutions
- Prawns → 1 kg firm white fish in 3 cm cubes, marinated 30 minutes with lime juice and salt (SBS); simmer the sauce first and add the fish for the last 10 minutes.
- Dendê → There is no real substitute for its flavour and colour. SBS suggests vegetable oil with ½ tsp turmeric for colour only.
- Clay pot → Any heavy casserole; Paim stresses the clay pot is part of the dish's culture.
Common mistakes
- Stirring: the layers break up and the prawns overcook.
- Cooking too long after the prawns turn pink: they toughen.
Storage & reheating
Best freshly made. Refrigerate within 2 hours and eat within a day; reheat gently until steaming hot.
Safety
Contains crustaceans. Cook prawns until the flesh is pearly and opaque (US FDA). Coconut is not one of the EU's 14 allergens but can affect people with tree-nut allergy.
Allergens
Crustaceans
Check labels: stock, bacon and sauces can contain further allergens.
Dietary
gluten-free · dairy-free
A cozinhado with dendê and coconut
Chef Tereza Paim of Casa de Tereza in Salvador told the Bahian newspaper Correio that a moqueca can be made of many things: seafood is best known, but at home Bahians also make it with dried meat, egg, maxixe gherkins and even oxtail. What makes it baiana is the method, a cozinhado with dendê palm oil and coconut milk, and the seasonings: onion, tomato, pepper, garlic, coriander and chives.
Paim insists on the clay pot, for flavour and above all for the scene: typical food, she says, is culture, including how it is cooked, where it is served and how it is eaten. Her own restaurant's best-seller is fish, octopus and prawn with banana.
How it connects
Place
- origin Bahia In preparation