Moqueca Baiana

How to Make Moqueca Baiana

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1. Marinate the fish with the lime juice, garlic, salt and pepper for 30 minutes. No longer, or the acid starts to cook it.

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2. Pour the olive oil into a wide clay pot or heavy casserole.

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3. Layer half the onion rings across the base, then half the peppers, then half the tomato slices.

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4. Scatter over half the coriander and spring onion.

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5. Lay the fish on top in a single layer, with any marinade.

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6. Cover with the remaining onion, peppers, tomato, coriander and spring onion, and the sliced chilli.

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7. Pour the coconut milk around the edges and bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat.

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8. Cover and cook 18 to 20 minutes without stirring at any point. Shake the pot gently if you must move things.

   Mark done Start 18 min timer

9. Drizzle the dendê oil over the surface, cover again, and cook 3 minutes more.

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10. Scatter with the last of the coriander and serve straight from the pot with rice, farofa and lime.

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Related guides: Prep, cook and total time · Choosing rice.

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Tips for Making Moqueca Baiana

• Do not stir. Moqueca is layered and left alone; stirring breaks the fish into flakes.
• Dendê oil is what makes it Bahian. Without it you have a perfectly good coconut fish stew but not a moqueca.
• A clay pot holds heat evenly and is traditional, but any heavy lidded casserole works.

If You're Missing Something

• If coconut is a problem, a cooking cream (dairy or plant-based) can stand in for the coconut milk in a sauce; the dish will lose the coconut flavour and taste noticeably different.
• Out of spring onions? A small regular onion, finely sliced, or a few chives stirred in at the end both cover the job.
• Dried chilli flakes can stand in for the red chilli. Heat varies a great deal between chillies and between jars, so start with a small pinch and add more to taste.

Serving Suggestions

• White rice and farofa
• A caipirinha
• Pirão, the fish gravy thickened with cassava flour

Sides from the same cuisine on this site: Pão de Queijo, Farofa.

Leftovers and Storage

Refrigerate up to 2 days. Reheat very gently — the fish will break up if disturbed. Not suitable for freezing.

Questions About Moqueca Baiana

Nutrition per Serving

Per serving, an approximate calculation from the ingredient list. Treat it as a rough guide: an ingredient listed without an amount is not counted, so the figures run low; garnishes, greasing and other items with no amount are not counted. How the figures are worked out.

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