manioc flour

This Brazilian dish may contain a few unexpected or even unfamiliar ingredients, but they are easy to find online and worth the search. The result is a tropical fish stew mellowed by slices of plantain and coconut milk and accompanied by the traditional hot sauce called piri-piri and farofa, the toasted cassava-meal accompaniment. Farofa is served all over South America with all kinds of dishes; this version, with caramelized onions adapted from Felipe Amaral in Rio de Janeiro, was my favorite. You can serve the moqueca without the farofa, if you prefer, but it helps to sop up the soupy liquid from the stew.

Moqueca (Brazilian Fish Stew)

unsalted butter

onion,

black sea bass,

shrimp,

Salt

bay leaves

white turnip,

onions

plum tomatoes

shishito peppers, chopped

garlic

cilantro

chives

green plantain

red bell pepper,

green Cubanelle peppers, green frying peppers

coconut milk

octopus

red chile pepper,

long grain rice, steamed

Piri-piri or other hot sauce,

Make the farofa if desired: Melt butter in a skillet or shallow saucepan on medium heat. Add sliced onion, and cook, stirring, until it turns light brown. Stir in manioc and cook, stirring, 5 to 8 minutes, until it starts to toast. Cover and keep warm.

Make the fish broth: Cut each bass fillet in 4 or 5 pieces, cover and refrigerate. Place trimmings in a 3-quart stovetop casserole, preferably an earthenware pot. Lightly salt shrimp, cover and refrigerate. Place shells in the pot. Add 5 cups water; the bay leaves; the turnip; 2 onions, chopped; 2 tomatoes, chopped; half the shishito peppers; the garlic; and half the cilantro and chives. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer about 45 minutes, until vegetables are tender.

Heat oven to 450 degrees. Cut a slit in the skin of the plantain, wrap in foil and bake 20 minutes, until flesh is tender. Cool.

Strain broth into a bowl, pressing on the solids. Discard solids and return broth to pot. Cook over medium heat until reduced to 1 1/2 cups.

Slice remaining tomatoes and remaining onion 1/4 inch thick and add to pot. Add bell peppers, Cubanelle peppers, remaining shishito peppers, remaining chives and all but 1 tablespoon remaining cilantro. Bring to a simmer and cook about 20 minutes, until vegetables are tender.

Peel plantain and slice it 1/2 inch thick. Add to pot. Add coconut milk and dende oil. Add fish and octopus, if using, and simmer 5 minutes. Rinse and dry shrimp and squid, if using, and add to pot. Simmer 3 minutes. Check seasonings. Strew remaining cilantro on top, garnish with a red chile and serve over rice directly from the pot, with farofa and piri-piri on the side.

Manioc flour can be found in Brazilian stores. It resembles a light bread crumb, but do not confuse it with tapioca flour or starch. Once toasted in fat — here, bacon, but other kinds may be used — the manioc flour can serve as a crisp topping to the feijoada, or served alongside to soak up the juices.

Farofa

garlic, chopped

Kosher salt

bacon,

Vegetable oil, if needed

manioc flour (a.k.a. cassava flour)

butter

Mash the garlic and a few pinches of salt with the side of your knife until pasty. Place bacon in large skillet over medium heat, and let it cook, stirring, for 5 minutes, or until fully rendered and lightly browned. Add a splash of vegetable oil if there isn’t enough fat to generously coat the pan.

Turn heat down to medium-low, and cook garlic until very aromatic. Add manioc flour, and cook, stirring and shaking the pan continuously, until it’s a shade toastier and a little crunchy, 6 to 8 minutes. Turn off heat, and stir in butter. Add salt to taste. Let guests sprinkle or pile it onto their plates, to their taste.

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Moqueca (Brazilian Fish Stew)

Farofa

Top 2 manioc flour recipes from across the web

The most viewed manioc flour recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engineic_arrow_forward_48px

Top Tags

Moqueca (Brazilian Fish Stew)

Farofa

The most viewed manioc flour recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine