This is my take on the classic Brazilian stew moqueca traditionally made with seafood all over the country. I’ve adapted this particular version which comes from Bahia a northeastern state and uses palm oil (a hotly debated ingredient in the West because of the devastating impact its extraction has on rainforests and wildlife ). It features heavily in West African cooking where it has been used traditionally for hundreds of years and made its way to Brazil via the West Africans.
Do use organic sustainably sourced palm oil which can be bought here. It really is a key ingredient in this stew because it gives it a unique depth of flavour and a lovely reddish colour. If you can’t get hold of it then substitute with two teaspoons of paprika and swap the olive for coconut oil.
It’s delicious and warming recipe that would be a perfect accompaniment to baked white fish or grilled chicken.
A fish version can be found here and both are super quick, easy to make and amazingly good.
Serves 4
Prep 15 mins
Cook 20 mins
Total 35 mins
Ingredients
Olive oil
1 large onion, thinly sliced
2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 large plantains, peeled and cut into 1cm slices
3 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tbsp organic sustainably sourced palm oil (see below)
1 tsp sweet paprika
250ml coconut milk
1 large red pepper, deseeded and thinly sliced
1 large green pepper, deseeded and thinly sliced
2 medium vine tomatoes, deseeded and thinly sliced
small bunch of coriander, roughly chopped
3 spring onions, finely sliced
100ml water
Sea salt and black pepper
Coconut rice – to serve
Method
Peel and chop the sweet potato into 2-3cm chunks. Place in a large saucepan and bring to the boil.
Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan using enough to fully cover the base of the pan. Add garlic, onion, plantain, salt and black pepper and sauté for 3 minutes over a medium heat, turning the plantain occasionally.
Add the palm oil, paprika and sweet potato. Slowly stir in the coconut milk and water ensuring the coconut milk has completely dissolved. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes stirring occasionally. Check the seasoning and add salt and pepper if needed.
Add the peppers, tomatoes, coriander and spring onions and simmer for 5 minutes or until the peppers are slightly softened (save a little spring onion and coriander to garnish).
Serve with coconut rice and top with coriander and spring onion.
