Brazil | Fish & Seafood | Coconut | Shrimp

Vatapá

(Brazilian seafood stew with coconut milk)

Yield: 4-6 servings


INGREDIENTS PREP AMOUNT
Onion chopped 2 each
Garlic chopped 2-3 cloves
Malagueta or jalapeño peppers chopped 1-4 each
Shrimp, dried (see notes) 1/2 cup
 
Oil 3 tablespoons
Stock or water 1 1/2 cups
Peanut or cashew butter, natural 1/2 cup
Breadcrumbs 1 cup
Salt & pepper to taste
 
Shrimp peeled, deveined 1 pound
Coconut milk 2 cups
Dendê oil (opt.) 1/4 cup

METHOD

Basic Steps:  Sauté → Simmer
  1. Place the onion, garlic, chilies and dried shrimp in a food processor or blender and puree well. Add a little water if needed.
  2. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion-shrimp mixture and sauté until cooked through, about 5-7 minutes.
  3. Stir in the stock or water and bring to a simmer. Whisk in the peanut or cashew butter until smooth, then stir in the breadcrumbs, salt and pepper. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer to meld flavors, 5-8 minutes.
  4. Stir in the shrimp and coconut milk and let slowly simmer another 5-6 minutes till shrimp is almost cooked through. Stir in the dendê oil, remove from heat and serve.

VARIATIONS

  • Vatapá de Galinha: substitute 1 1/2 pounds of cooked, shredded chicken for the shrimp.
  • Vatapá de Peixe: substitute 1 1/2 pounds of firm white-fleshed fish, cut into chunks, for the shrimp.
  • If you can't find dried shrimp, you can puree about 1 cup of fresh raw shrimp in a blender and substitute it for the dried.
  • A truly authentic dish would use dendê, or palm oil, which gives the dish a bright yellow-orange tint. But dendê can be hard to find outside Brazil. Try adding 1 1/2 teaspoons of turmeric to the onion-shrimp paste instead.
  • Some recipes call for the addition of 1 tablespoon of fresh, minced ginger. Others for 1-2 cups of chopped tomatoes.
  • The breadcrumbs act as a thickener for the vatapá. Some recipes use cornmeal instead. Others thicken it like a gravy with flour.

NOTES

  • Vatapá is one of the classic dishes of Brazilian cuisine. It hails from Bahia state on the northeast coast where many of the dishes have African origins.
  • While often called a stew or even a soup, vatapá has an interesting creamy puree texture. It is often served over rice or alongside the bean fritters called acarajé.