Moqueca Capizaba
Jan 14, 2020
Moqueca is a Brazilian fish stew recipe made with salt water, tomatoes, onions, garlic, and often coriander; slowly cooked in a terra cotta casserole. The recipe appears courtesy of Fátima Langa in the Boston episode of No Passport Required.
- Servings
- 6 servings
Tags
Ingredients
- 2 pounds fresh filet of any white fish (Stripped bass, Haddock, Grouper or Cod)
- 1 pound fresh shrimp, clean and devein (optional)
- ½ cup fresh lime juice
- 2 cups chopped tomatoes
- 1 tomato cut into fine slices for garnish
- 1 ½ cup chopped yellow onion
- 1 small onion cut into fine slices for garnish
- 1 large bunch of chopped fresh cilantro
- ½ cup chopped green onion
- 1 minced garlic clove
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon of annatto seeds or urucum powder (found in Latin Market)
- Salt to taste
- Black pepper or chile pepper (optional)
Instructions
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Rinse the fish in cold water, cut it into 6 pieces of 3” inches wide; put in a bowl, add the lime juice and let it marinate.
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Cut all the vegetables and place in a bowl with cilantro, saving some cilantro for garnish.
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Prepare the annatto oil color by simmering 1 spoon of annatto in ½ cup of olive oil. Stir constantly using medium heat, turn the heat off before starting to boil. Strain it and save.
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In a large clay pot casserole, slightly sauté the garlic with 2 tablespoons of the annatto for a few seconds.
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Add half of the vegetable mixture then arrange the pieces of fish in layers side by side on top of vegetables.
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Cover and let it cook for 10 minutes; checking throughout to add water if needed and salt to taste.
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Add the remaining vegetable mixture in a layer covering the fish.
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Decorate with slices of tomatoes and slices of onions. Put some more olive oil if necessary.
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Add the shrimp (or any other kind of shellfish) sprinkle a bit of salt on top and let it cook for 3 to 5 more minutes.