Recipe: Moqueca de Camarao (shrimp stew, Bahian style)

the appetizer:

Brazil's culinary influences include not only Amerindian and Portuguese foods, but the cooking styles of immigrants from many other parts of Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. Each of the country's five geographic regions offer cuisines that are distinctly different yet recognizably Brazilian.

Brazil

Moqueca de Camarao
(shrimp stew, Bahian style)

Serves 4

Plan ahead, the shrimp needs to marinate for 30 minutes.

Juice of 1 lemon
1 onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 to 2 tablespoons white vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 pound fresh shrimp, shelled and deveined
1 teaspoon fresh cilantro, chopped
2 tablespoons tomato paste
Black pepper to taste
1 cup thin coconut milk*
1/2 cup thick coconut milk*
2 to 3 tablespoons dende oil**

Make a marinade with lemon, onion, garlic, vinegar and salt. Marinate the shrimp for 30 minutes. Put mixture into a sauce pan and add cilantro, tomato paste and black pepper to taste. Add thin coconut milk and cook over low heat until the shrimp are cooked. Add the thick coconut milk and dende oil. Continue cooking for another 5 minutes.

Serve with rice.

*Bottled or canned coconut milk can be substituted. Also see recipe.

**Dende oil is a palm oil high in saturated fat. It is available in specialty food stores.

From Eat Smart In Brazil. Reprinted by permission of the publisher, Ginkgo Press.