Brazil • Regional Dish • Seafood

Moqueca (Brazilian Seafood Stew)

Moqueca is bright, rich, and deeply comforting, with tender seafood, soft peppers, and a fragrant coconut broth doing all the heavy lifting.

Servings6

Prep Time20 min

Cook Time35 min

DifficultyModerate

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Ingredients

US Metric

1 1/2 lb firm white fish fillets, cut into large chunks

9 oz raw peeled shrimp

2 tbsp lime juice

1 tsp fine sea salt, plus more to taste

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

2 tbsp olive oil

1 large onion, sliced

1 red bell pepper, sliced

1 yellow bell pepper, sliced

3 medium tomatoes, sliced

4 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 2/3 cups coconut milk

2 tbsp dendê oil

2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro

2 spring onions, finely sliced

700 g firm white fish fillets, cut into large chunks

250 g raw peeled shrimp

2 tbsp lime juice

1 tsp fine sea salt, plus more to taste

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

2 tbsp olive oil

1 large onion, sliced

1 red bell pepper, sliced

1 yellow bell pepper, sliced

3 medium tomatoes, sliced

4 garlic cloves, finely chopped

400 ml coconut milk

2 tbsp dendê oil

2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander

2 spring onions, finely sliced

Instructions

Add the fish and shrimp to a bowl. Toss with the lime juice, salt, and black pepper. Set aside for 10 minutes.
Heat the olive oil in a wide, deep pan or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add half the onion, half the peppers, and half the tomatoes in loose layers.
Scatter over half the garlic, then place the fish and shrimp on top in an even layer.
Add the remaining onion, peppers, tomatoes, and garlic over the seafood. Pour in the coconut milk and dendê oil.
Bring the pan just to a gentle simmer. Cover and cook over low heat for 15 to 18 minutes, until the fish is just cooked through and the shrimp are pink and firm.
Uncover and spoon a little of the broth over the top. Simmer for 3 to 5 minutes more if you want the broth slightly thicker, but do not boil hard or stir aggressively.
Sprinkle over the coriander and spring onions. Taste the broth and add a little more salt if needed.
Serve hot.

Cultural Context

Moqueca is one of Brazil’s signature seafood stews, with major regional versions in Bahia and Espírito Santo. The Bahian style is especially known for coconut milk and dendê oil, while the Espírito Santo version is lighter and usually relies on olive oil instead. Across regions, tomatoes, onions, coriander, and seafood remain central.

Fun Fact

The clay pot matters enough in Brazil that traditional pan-making in Goiabeiras, in Espírito Santo, has been recognized as cultural heritage. That is a pretty strong vote of confidence for cookware.

Cook’s Tip

This version follows the Bahian-style lane of moqueca, the better-known version outside Brazil, which uses coconut milk and dendê oil. Moqueca capixaba is a different regional style and typically skips both coconut milk and dendê.

Use a firm fish that holds together in the broth, such as cod, halibut, sea bass, haddock, or snapper. Keep the cooking gentle. Moqueca is meant to stew softly, not get battered into seafood rubble by an overexcited boil. Traditional versions are often cooked and served in a clay pot, but a heavy Dutch oven works well for home cooks.

Trivia

There’s a long-running regional rivalry over the “real” moqueca. Bahia brings coconut milk and dendê. Espírito Santo answers with olive oil and annatto and basically says, politely or otherwise, that the other camp is making fish stew.

About This Recipe

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Moqueca (Brazilian Seafood Stew)

Instructions

Cultural Context

Fun Fact

Cook’s Tip

Trivia

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