Moqueca de camarão

Moqueca is a tasty stew from Brazil, made with shrimp (or fish in other versions), coconut milk and a mix of veggies and spices. It is very easy to make, but my first attempt left a lot of room for improvement 😉 Preparation time: 30-40 min

What's in it?

• 2 cans coconut milk
• Broth (I used vegetable, but any other would be fine too)
• Avocado oil
• Coconut oil

Fresh ingredients:

• White onion, diced
• Tomatoes, diced (I used campari tomatoes, but any kind would work)
• Red bell pepper, diced
• Green onions (scallions), sliced
• Jalapeño pepper, chopped (used instead of chillis called for in the recipe)
• Garlic, minced
• Lime zest
• Lime wedges

Seasonings:

• Aleppo pepper (or cayenne pepper / chili flakes)
• Paprika
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Salt

I fried the veggies a bit in the dutch oven before adding the coconut milk.

I added too much lime zest, which made it sour. I also used too little spice so it was a bit bland. The recipe called for lots of broth, making it more soup than sauce, but that actually worked fine. It thickens when kept in the fridge anyway.

More tomatoes would help. They add texture and acidity to balance the richness of the coconut milk.

Serving

I defrost and reheat the stew, then add fresh shrimp right before serving. If shrimp sits in the hot sauce too long, it becomes tough and chewy.

The stew works best over rice. Out of white rice varieties, jasmine is probably ideal, but black rice also works wonderfully.

For something in the spirit of culinary fusion, I also tried it with buckwheat kasha and it was great! I'd definitely make again.