In honour of the World Cup, I went googling for Brazilian recipes last week and one that appelaed to me was Vatapa, which is a creamy fish/prawn stew with coconut milk. There seem to be numerous variations, using everything from dried shrimp to tinned tuna, but here is the version I made.
Vatapa
ingredients :
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 large onions, chopped
1 cup cashew nuts
1 cloved garlic, minced
a thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger, peeled and finely minced
1/2tsp chilli flakes
4 cups fish stock (I used 2 Knorr Fish Stock Pots)
1 can of coconut milk
a squeeze of fresh lime juice
1kg white fish (I used halibut)
500g king prawns
Fry the onions in the olive oil for a few minutes until they go translucent.
Crush the cashews in a mortar and pestle, food processor or freezer bag with a rolling pin. You can choose a smooth consistency or keep some crunch, which is what I decided on.
Finely chop the garlic and ginger.
Add the cashews, garlic, ginger and chilli flakes to the onions and cook for a further 1 minute.
Prepare the fish stock. As I was using Knorr Fish Stock Pots, I just added them straight to the pot to melt before pouring over boiling water but you might want to mix it up beforehand.
Add the coconut milk, lime juice and the fish stock to the pan and bring to the boil. Leave to reduce for 20 minutes or so until it has reduced by half.
Dice the fish.
Peel the prawns.
Reduce the heat to a gentle simmer and add the fish - cook for 5-10 minutes - then the prawns (mine were already cooked so just needed reheating but leave for 5 minutes if they're raw).
Make sure the fish and prawns are cooked through and serve over rice.
I'm joining in with the World Cup recipe challenge over on the Cooking Around The World blog
Linking up with the Food of the World challenge which is focusing on Brazilian food this month
Disclosure : I received a box of goodies in order to take part in the Unilever Kitchen Brazil Challenge.
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Oh, that is a very lovely dish. I had it already on my list and was planning to do my version this week, too.
ReplyDeleteThanks Chris, I look forward to seeing how yours comes out :)
DeleteOh this should get us in the spirit for the footie starting tonight! Excited!
ReplyDeleteI've just posted a Croatian cake recipe too, if you want to go the whole hog !
DeleteFab recipe, so full of flavours! Don't think I ever added nuts to a fish stew, but sounds delicious
ReplyDeleteIt was a new one on me too but it worked really well - I've seen other versions with almonds and/or peanuts mixed in with the cashews too. (Should be Brazil nuts !!)
Deletethis is my kind of dish - thanks for your submissions to Food of the World
ReplyDelete