One thing about me: I LOVE a good seafood dish! Now that the cold weather is starting to roll in for a lot of us, I implore you to consider making this incredible soup/stew the next time you find yourself craving seafood chowder! This dish hits a lot of similar notes but it brings such a vibrant, fresh flavor profile while still giving you that satisfying and filling experience due to the coconut milk and the side of rice (if you choose to include that aspect).
🚨 Important note: This is not a difficult recipe at all, but there are quite a few qualifying details of note. I’d highly recommend utilizing the photos in my post for reference and that you read through the recipe and instructions before making this yourself, just to get the whole picture of what’s going on.
Let’s make it!
• Ingredients
-1.5 lbs 1” thick firm white fish fillets like sea bass, haddock or cod (I used Alaskan cod; pat dry with a paper towel and slice into 2-3” chunks)
-1.5 lbs shrimp (patted dry, peeled and deveined)
-2 tbsp dendê oil aka unrefined red palm oil (divided)
-2x medium yellow onions (495g; peeled and sliced into thin rings)
-1x medium-large (208g) red bell pepper (slice into thin rings and remove the stem & seeds)
-1x medium-large (212g) yellow bell pepper (slice into thin rings and remove the stem & seeds)
-1.2 lbs (562g) ripe tomatoes (I used heirloom tomatoes because they were looking gorgeous at my local grocery store but you can use whatever variety looks good when you shop; slice into thin rounds and remove the stem)
-1x medium (50g) jalapeño (remove the seeds and major veins and mince)
-4-5 scallions (62g; chop off the sprouted end and finely chop the onions)
-1x generously packed cup of cilantro (23g; finely chopped)
-1x 13.5 fl. oz can of full fat unsweetened coconut milk
-1/2 cup (4 fl. Oz) seafood stock (if needed to adjust consistency)
-1/2 tsp fresh lime zest
• Seafood marinade: We need 2x ramekins to mix the marinades since we’ll be marinading the shrimp and fish separately!
-6 heaped tsp (50g) minced garlic (3 heaped tsp or 25g per ramekin)
-1/4 cup fresh squeezed lime juice (2 tbsp per ramekin; the juice of 1 large lime was enough but I’d recommend you get 2-3 limes so you can adjust the acidity at the end/serve your stew with a lime wedge)
-3/4 tsp salt (divided into 3rds; put 1/4 tsp into each ramekin and save the remaining 1/4 tsp for later)
-3/4 tsp black pepper (3/8 tsp per ramekin)
-1/8 tsp white pepper (1/16 tsp per ramekin)
• Instructions
1. Mise en place. Wash and chop your veggies & cilantro, juice & zest your lime(s), measure out and mix your marinades in their ramekins, open your coconut milk can, peel and devein your shrimp (if it’s not already done), and chop your fish.
2. Marinate your seafood. Add your fish and shrimp to separate bowls, coat thoroughly in their respective batches of marinade, then cover with cling wrap and put in the fridge for 20 minutes (fish) and 30 minutes (shrimp).
3. After your seafood has been marinating for 10 minutes, turn your stove to medium-low head and add 1 tbsp of dendê oil to your soup pot. Layer half of your onions, bell peppers, and tomatoes in your pot in overlapping layers. Sprinkle 1/3 of your chopped cilantro and scallions over the vegetables. Cover the pot and cook for 6-8 minutes until the vegetables start releasing their juices. 🚨 Important notes: Do not stir anything in the pot until the very end of the cooking process. Instead, gently shake the pot if you need to shift the contents. And speaking of the pot, you’ll notice in the photos that I switched pots halfway through the cooking process xD. Initially I used my Gotham steel 5 quart soup pot but it was too small AND too narrow. I switched to my 12 quart, much wider soup pot which worked way better even though the total volume of soup was nowhere near 12 quarts. The takeaway from my mistake is that diameter matters more than height, for this recipe…I sure hope this made sense 🤣.
4. Add your marinated fish chunks to the pot in a single layer. Do not dump the entire contents of the marinade bowl into the pot! There should be a small pool of leftover juices at the bottom of the bowl. Discard that. Adding all that extra lime juice automatically gives you less control of the acidity of the final dish. Sprinkle your minced jalapeño over the fish.
5. Add the remaining onions, bell peppers, and tomatoes in overlapping layers. Sprinkle with another 3rd of the chopped cilantro and scallions as well as the remaining 1/4 tsp of salt. Cover and let the soup continue to cook on medium-low heat for 3-5 minutes. Do not stir! Instead, gently shake the pot if you need to help the contents settle. The liquid should be gently bubbling around the edges.
6. Time to add the coconut milk! Stir the can of coconut milk very well, then pour it over the fish and vegetables. Evaluate the amount of liquid in the pot. It’s not abnormal, at this stage, for a notable amount of solids to be above the liquid threshold (they’ll continue to settle over the course of the cooking process) but if you feel the ratio of solids to liquid is too out of balance, feel free to add up to 1/2 a cup of seafood stock. Shake the pot to help the contents mix and settle.
7. Drizzle the 2nd tbsp of dendê oil over the vegetables. Bring the contents of the pot to a gentle simmer (small, occasional patches of bubbles with an otherwise unbothered surface) and allow the fish to cook for another 8-12 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fish. Gently shake the pot occasionally and check the internal temperature of the fish at the thickest part. Once it reaches 145 degrees F (~63 degrees C), move onto the next step.
8. Time to add the marinated shrimp! Gently tuck the shrimp pieces into the broth/sauce so they are mostly surrounded by hot liquid (remember: discard the pool of leftover marinade at the bottom of the shrimp bowl), give the pot a gently shake, and continue cooking for 3-5 minutes until the fish is cooked through and the shrimp is opaque (the shrimp’s internal temperature should read 145 degrees F or ~63 degrees C at the thickest part.
9. Turn the heat off, entirely. Gently stir in 1/2 tsp of lime zest, the remaining chopped cilantro and scallions, then start taste testing. Add more salt to taste, then evaluate the acidity. Add more fresh lime juice, if needed. Try not to stir too much or too aggressively! Traditionally, Moqueca Baiana has large chunks of fish rather than shredded seafood…though if you’re a little unsuccessful in preserving the size of the fish chunks (like I was, to a degree lol) it’ll be okay. The flavors will still be bomb, so don’t sweat it 👌🏼.
10. Serve promptly with a fresh lime wedge (or at least portion out the soup in separate container(s) so the shrimp doesn’t get rubbery sitting in the hot pot for too long).
Voilá! This soup/stew is typically served over rice (there are other traditional carb options, but the rice is what I went with). I’m cutting weight right now so I made my rice mixture with 250g of steamed jasmine rice and 450g of steamed, riced cauliflower that I drained to remove excess water. I seasoned it with a little salt, black pepper, and a squeeze of fresh lime juice. The taste of the cauliflower disappears entirely into the flavorful broth! This is a great dish for utilizing this [sometimes polarizing] volume hack!
Total recipe yield (just the soup/stew): 3,100g | Serving size (suggestion): 475g | Basic nutritional info: 375 calories per serving w/ 42P 16C 16F & 5g of Fiber.
If anybody’s curious, I’ll also add the stats for my jasmine rice-cauliflower rice blend:
Total recipe yield: 700g | Serving size (suggestion): 140g | Basic nutritional info: 114 calories per serving w/ 4P 24C 1F & 3g of Fiber
