Chef John’s Brazilian Fish Stew

Description

My interpretation of Brazilian seafood stew (or moqueca) uses just fish, so I’m calling it the weeknight version. It’s ready to serve in less than 30 minutes.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups water
  • 1 cup uncooked white rice
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 yellow onion, thinly sliced
  • 1 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 4 cloves minced garlic
  • 2 teaspoons paprika
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • cayenne pepper to taste
  • 1 (14 ounce) can full-fat coconut milk
  • 1 teaspoon soy sauce
  • 1 red or yellow bell pepper, halved and thinly sliced
  • 2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and thinly sliced
  • ¼ cup chopped green onion
  • 1 ½ pounds sea bass fillets, cut into chunks
  • 1 pinch salt
  • ¼ cup chopped cilantro leaves
  • 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice

Instructions

  1. Bring water and rice to a boil in a saucepan. Reduce heat to medium-low
  2. cover
  3. and simmer until rice is tender and liquid has been absorbed
  4. 20 to 25 minutes.
  5. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add onions and 1 teaspoon salt. Cook and stir just until onions start to get soft
  6. 3 or 4 minutes. Add tomato paste
  7. garlic
  8. paprika
  9. cumin
  10. and cayenne pepper. Continue cooking about 3 minutes. Pour in coconut milk and add soy sauce. When mixture starts to bubble
  11. let it simmer about 5 minutes.
  12. Increase heat to medium-high. Stir in bell peppers
  13. jalapeno peppers
  14. and green onions. Let mixture come back to a simmer. Transfer fish to skillet; stir. Cover and cook over medium-high heat until fish starts to flake
  15. about 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Add salt
  16. cilantro
  17. and lime juice; stir carefully to avoid breaking up the fish. Serve with rice.

Prep Time: 12 mins

Cook Time: 20 mins

Total Time: 32 mins

Servings: 6

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