18 January

This is one of my favourite dishes at the moment. Moqueca (or Muqueca) is a traditional dish from the Brazilian state of Bahia.

Historically, Bahia is the centre of Brazil's sugar plantations. With sugar being worth almost its weight in gold in the 16th and 17th centuries, and with it being an extremely labour-intensive process to produce, this region became the the focus for one of the largest forced migrations in history. Approximately four million African slaves were transported to Brazil during this period ... or about ten times the number which were transported to North America. Larger numbers, and the fact that that arrival of new slaves continued over a longer period has contributed to Bahia having strongly African sense of culture and traditions. In fact, you'll probably find many of Africa's old traditions better preserved in Bahia than you will in today's Africa. Bahia, and Brazil's african influences (among others) have lead to Samba music, traditional Capoeira martial arts, and the Candomblé religion. Bahia is a fascinating place to visit - and the impact of African influences in the local cuisine make it even more enjoyable.

Moqueca is a mild type of fish curry, rich with coconut milk, and with a unique flavour thanks to its special ingredient: Dendê oil (also called Red Palm Oil). This is a thick bright-orange oil which changes colour and properties with different temperatures. This Palm Oil is African in origin and has become a staple ingredient in Brazilian cuisine - including in other popular dishes such as Acarajé and Xin Xin.

Anyway - this is the way that I make my version of moqueca. It's a blend of several recipes, that's evolved based on experience and poaching from others. Personally, I make this using Prawns (readily available here in Brisbane), but it can be made with fish, crab meat or other seafood.

Ingredients

Ingredient Name	Quantity
Prawns (peeled). Can also use fish or crab meat	500g
Garlic (minced)	2 cloves
Hot chili pepper or chili flakes	vary to taste
Chopped coriander or cilantro	4 teaspoons
Salt	1/2 teaspoon
Black Pepper	1/2 teaspoon
Juice of 1 large lime
Diced Tomatoes (undrained)	400g can
1 medium onion (diced)	1/2 teaspoon
Coconut Milk	400ml can
Dendê Oil (Red Palm Oil)	2 Tablespoons

Preparation:

Step 1:

Rinse the fish (or prawns) under a tap. If using fish then cut this into bite-sized chunks. Alternatively, if using prawns which are unpeeled then it's recommended to fry them with a small amount of olive oil, garlic and chili flakes to help give them flavour (the cooked prawns will also be easier to peel).



Update: For a richer prawn flavour, try leaving the prawns uncooked (aka: green) prawns.
Butterfly the prawns to remove the icky stuff, and give the dish a better look. This is a little more work but worth the effort.

Step 2:

Put HALF the can of diced tomatoes into a blender.
Add:

• half onion (diced)
• Garlic (2 cloves, minced)
• Lime juice
• Salt (1/2 tsp)
• Black Pepper (1/2 tsp)
• Coriander or cilantro

In lieu of fresh coriander, I often use Coriander paste since it lasts much longer in my fridge.
Process this in the blender until smooth.



Step 3:

Pour the blended mixture into a bowl, over top of the fish or prawns. Mix the blended liquid in with the fish or prawns and leave in the refrigerator to marinate for about an hour.



Step 4:

Heat up the Dendê oil in a large pan. This should be a rich red colour (admittedly, in the image below I've cheated - using Palm cream mixed with Olive Oil as an approximation of Dendê oil)



Step 5:

Add the marinated prawns/fish and mixture into the pan.
Also add:

• remaining half can of diced tomatoes,
• remaining half of the diced onion
• half can (about 200ml) of coconut milk
• chili flakes or chili to taste

Bring this to a boil over a medium heat.



Step 6:

Add the remaining half-can (200ml) of coconut milk, and leave to simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally.
Continue this for about 5-10 minutes if using prawns (don’t overcook them). If using heavier fish, this may take up to 20 minutes.

Serving:

Serve the Moqueca with white rice (cooked the Brazilian way - frying the raw rice grains with oil and garlic prior to cooking) and farofa, if available in your area. Farofa is another Brazilian staple - grated cassava or manoic which has been toasted (its the stuff in the photo below which looks like sawdust).



Where to get Dendê oil (and some possible substitutes):

Dendê oil, also called Red Palm Oil, can be difficult to find. Although you can make moqueca with other types of oil, dendê helps give this dish it's rich colour and flavour.

Here in Brisbane, dendê oil can sometimes be found at Pennisi Cuisine (ph 07 3891 7643)- with a one litre bottle costing about AUD 8.00 when in stock. Their's isn't the greatest quality, but is consistent with what you'll generally find in Brazil. If they don't have Dendê oil in stock, then they may still have Palm Cream - which comes from the same Palm, and which you can mix with Olive or Soy oil to get a good approximation. In other cities, you may be able to get dendê from stores selling african food supplies or asian cooking (as its also used in some Malaysian or Indonesian dishes).

Within Australia, you can purchase dendê online at Shield and Spear. At AUD 25 for a 1 litre jar (plus AUD 15 for postage & packaging), this comparatively expensive - but it is much higher quality than you're likely to find elsewhere.

In New Zealand, you can sometimes purchase dendê oil at OnTrays in Petone, and potentially at other Brazilian food importers if you can find them online. As mentioned above, you can also try to find it at stores specialising in African or Asian (Malaysian/Indonesian) food.

There are alternatives if you can't find dendê. For example, using sesame oil or peanut oil - although the flavour and colour will differ. One site suggests using annato oil (or adding ground annato seeds) to give this alternative the correct colour ... although the truth is that I've never seen these anywhere either.

Tags: Moqueca, Brazil, Recipe