Moqueca Brazilian Fish Stew

Let's be honest, fish can often be a bit daunting to cook for some reason so we tend to stick to salmon and canned tuna or eating it out.

This recipe will hopefully change your mind and make you love cooking fish!

This dish is traditionally made with palm oil as it's a very common ingredient in northern Brazilian cooking. If you're anything like me, palm oil is something you don’t often cook with and don't have at home, so I have changed the palm oil for fresh turmeric instead to give that same colour the palm oil would give, but with a more delicate and aromatic flavour. 

This can also be easily changed into a vegetarian/ vegan dish! Check the change it up section below! . 

Moqueca Brazilian Fish Stew

Serves 4 

Ingredients:

• 1 whole firm white flesh fish such as cod or snapper variety or 4 fillets/ steaks of the same kind of fish (Read the change it up section for more info on the fish)

• 2 capsicums 

• 2 large fresh tomatoes 

• 1/2 a bunch of coriander 

• 5 garlic cloves 

• 1 small thumb size piece of fresh turmeric

• 1 onion 

• 200ml coconut milk 

• rice to serve

Method

Roughly cut all the vegetables and fine grate or beat in a mortar and pestle the garlic and turmeric. 

Cook the capsicum, onion, garlic, tumeric and coriander stems using a bit of olive oil until soft. 

Season with salt.

Add the tomatoes and fish (Read the change it up section on how to cut the fish) and cook for 2 minutes. 

Add the coconut milk, stir, and cover with a lid to finish cooking the fish through. 

After 5 minutes, the fish should be gently cooked, so stir in the coriander leaves, serve with rice and enjoy! 

Change it Up! 

Fish: if choosing to cook with a whole fish, simply ask your fishmonger to clean the fish for you; this means they will remove all the insides and the scales for you. 

Don’t worry about knowing how to fillet the fish. Simply cut the fish into thick steaks.

This means the fish will still have bones, so make sure to warn those eating the fish! 

Cook the head and tail in the stew as well, so even if you don’t eat them, they will add flavour to the dish. 

If you prefer not to cook a whole fish, you can buy the steaks or fillets alone. There is no need to cut them, and each person gets a full piece of fish. 

Vegetarian/Vegan:

This dish can very easily be turned vegetarian! Here are some ideas:

• firm tofu cubes

• chickpeas and spinach

• borlotti or butter beans and broccolini 

• plantains (my favourite!)