This is a traditional Brazilian seafood soup that is commonly prepared for Christmas Eve dinner. I guess there are a couple of major variations of this dish depending on the region of the country, but this is the one I know. This one is a bit involved, so probably best for special occasions.
The Malagueta peppers (not Melegueta) are very rare to find, at least where I live, so I usually substitute jalapenos with a couple of hits of Tabasco sauce.
Also, the dende oil can be difficult to find so substitute palm oil. If neither are available use peanut oil but the distinct flavor from the dende or palm will be lost. Either way the results are still very good considering all the other layers of flavors present.
INGREDIENTS:
- 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 3 tablespoons dende oil (sub palm or peanut)
- 1 larger onion, diced
- 10 garlic cloves, diced
- 2 poblanos peppers, minced
- 2 artichokes, cleaned, peeled, sliced thin
- 2 Malagueta peppers, minced (sub jalapeno with Tabasco)
- 1 quart fish stock
- 2 pounds ripe tomatoes, deseeded & chopped
- 2 pounds sea bass or monkfish fillet, cut into 2 inch cubes
- 1 1/2 pounds medium sea scallops
- 1 pound large shrimp, peeled & deveined
- salt and fresh ground black pepper
- 1/4 cup parsley, chopped
PREPARATION:
1. In a large stock pot, over medium heat add olive oil and dende (or your substitue) and heat. Saute the onion and garlic until they begin to brown, then add peppers (and Tabasco if using). Cook briefly to slightly soften peppers and add the artichokes. Cook vegetable mixture until it is light golden brown in color.
2. Add the tomatoes and fish stock and simmer for 25 minutes, or until the tomatoes break down. Remove from heat and allow to cool a bit and puree in a food processor and return to the pot.
3. Salt and pepper the fish and shrimp. Saute the fish in olive oil in a separate pan, browning on all sides. Add the scallops and shrimp and cook until about half way done. Add seafood to sauce in pot and bring to a simmer then remove from heat. Salt, pepper and hot sauce to taste. Garnish with parsley and serve with white rice.
Serves 8
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Hi, just recently found your site and love it. Unfortunatly I am a 5-way bypass survivor and all I can do is drool over most of your recipes, the Moqueca soup being the exception. Just want to make a couple of comments on two of your ingredients. Firstly you recommend using palm oil as a sub for Dende oil. Dende is African for palm oil. Its yellow colored and strong flavored. Whats strange and confusing is that when West africans migrated to Brazil the Dende oil they braught was red hued. Several food dictioaries suggest using paprika to color the palm oil or peanut oil to approximate Brazilian Dende oil. Secondly, if you don’t mind growing your own peppers you can find Malaqueta pepper plants at Cross Country Nursuries (www.chiliplants.com). They have an amazing and kickass selection of pepper plants and tomato plants. Hope this helps, Taras
Thanks Taras for your exceptional insight and the info on where to find the chile plants. I plan to begin growing my own soon. You would think I already do as much as I love cooking with the many different varieties.