This is not an Italian recipe, clearly. It is a Brazilian fish stew, or as I like to call it, “curry”. I make no claim of authenticity: I have never had authentic moqueca de piexe/baiana. I only claim that it is easy, and delicious. That is enough for me.
Use a firm white fish, possibly in chunks. Season it in advance if you can, place it on top of the vegetables, add coconut milk towards the end, cover, and let it cook gently. No violent boiling, no aggressive stirring, no heroic interventions.
Also, if the fish has bones, or if you add prawns with their shells, even better. They will release flavour into the stew while cooking. Fish stock made on the spot, basically. Very civilised.
Ingredients
For 3–4 people:
- ghee or flavourless oil
- a few garlic cloves
- parsley stems
- 1 or 2 canned anchovies
- 1 teaspoon tomato concentrate
- firm white fish, in large pieces
- prawns or other seafood, optional
- paprika, sweet or hot
- lemon
- black pepper
- salt
- 1 or 2 onions
- 1 or 2 tomatoes
- 1 or 2 capsicums, ideally mixed colours
- coconut milk
- fresh chilli, optional
- baby potatoes, optional
- white rice, to serve
A note on turmeric: Brazilians sometimes add a teaspoon of turmeric powder to the coconut milk. I usually avoid it. Not because it is wrong, but because I prefer the cleaner flavour of coconut, fish, tomato and capsicum. Do as you please.
Recipe
- Season the fish, and any seafood you are using, with paprika, lemon juice, black pepper and a little salt. Use hot paprika if you want the dish to have a bit of violence. Let it rest for 20 minutes if possible, while you prepare everything else.
- Slice the onions, tomatoes and capsicums across. Not too thin, not too thick. Say, 3 mm thick. They will need to pan-fry at first and then become the bed on which the fish cooks.
- In a wide pan or pot, heat ghee or a flavourless oil. Add the garlic, parsley stems and anchovies. This is your soffritto. Cook gently. The anchovies should melt into the fat. Do not burn the garlic, obviously.
- Add one teaspoon of tomato concentrate and mix it in with the oil/fat.
- Add the sliced onions, tomatoes and capsicums. If using baby potatoes, add them now too. Let the vegetables cook for a few minutes, until they begin to soften. Add fresh chilli at this point if using it.
- Place the fish chunks on top of the vegetables. If using prawns, other seafood, or delicate fish fillets, add them after step (7), 5 minutes before serving. Otherwise they’ll overcook and harden.
- Add the coconut milk. Look for a brand that has no additives like thickeners. Ingredients such be just coconut and a bit of water, low percentage.
- Cover with a lid and cook gently. Low flame. No aggressive boiling. The fish should steam and poach on top of the vegetables. Depending on the size of the pieces, this should take around 15–20 minutes.
- Do not stir too much. The fish is not meant to “disfarsi”, break up, as Italians would say. You want pieces of fish, not fish porridge.
- Taste only at the end and adjust the salt when the stew is basically ready. The anchovies, fish, seafood and coconut milk will all affect the final balance, so salting too confidently at the beginning is a trap.
Serve with plain white rice. The rice is essential because it absorbs the sauce, which is arguably the whole point of the dish. It feels like the cleanest curry, to me.
Enjoy with a cold white wine, or beer, and friends and family.
Italo's Kitchen 