Brazilian Fish Stew (Moqueca Baiana)

Fish Stews can be so boring…but not a BRAZILIAN Fish Stew!! With a fragrant tomato coconut sauce with a fresh hit of lime, this is such a different exotic way to serve up fish that is off the charts delicious – yet simple to make.

Brazilian Fish Stew

When I think of Brazilian food, I immediately have visions of grilled meat. Specifically, Churrasco. Serious quantities of grilled meat on giant skewers with the waiters walking from table to table, slicing the meat straight from the skewer onto my plate.

Carnivore heaven. 🙂

Because of the strong association of Brazilian food with Churrasco (and also because I don’t have a giant grill with a rotisserie) I thought sharing this traditional Brazilian fish stew would be nice for something a bit different!

The sauce of Brazilian Fish Stew is essentially a coconut curry sauce. Lightly spiced with a hit of lime, great depth of flavour!

What Brazilian Fish Stew tastes like

It tastes like a mild version of Thai Red Curry – and requires a whole lot less ingredients to make! The flavour of the sauce isn’t as kapow in-your-face, it is slightly more refreshing and not quite as rich.

While the flavour isn’t as intense, it doesn’t mean that it’s not as tasty! You will be amazing at the flavour you get from the relatively short list of ingredients. The key to this recipe is searing the fish first, and letting the sauce simmer down.

What you need

Here’s what you need to make Brazilian Fish Stew. See? I promised they were all “normal” ingredients!!!

Virtually any fish fillets will work here, though I’d avoid fish that dries out easily such as swordfish, kingfish, bonito and tuna. I’ve used snapper below. Other popular fish that will work well here include: tilapia, salmon, cod, basa, catfish, barramundi, bream, ling, John dory / Silver dory. See the recipes notes for more suggestions.

(Tip: These fish selection guidelines are good for any recipes where fish are braised or poached like this, such as Chinese Rice Soup and Goan Fish Curry.)

I remember the first time I saw this Brazilian Fish Stew recipe, I was a bit dubious that the sauce would have sufficient flavour with  so few ingredients for the sauce. It gets a helping hand by searing the fish in the pan first. The golden bits left in the pan (it’s called fond) after searing the fish adds a good hit of savoury flavour into the sauce.

How to make Brazilian Fish Stew

And here’s how to make it. It takes around 1 hour all up including a brief marinating time for the fish, and simmering time to reduce the sauce.

What to serve with Fish Stew

Serve this over rice or mashed potato so you have something to soak up that glorious sauce. If you want to up the ante, try it with this Lime Rice – and a crusty hunk of bread to mop your plate clean wouldn’t go astray either (try this quick no-yeast Irish Bread).

If you’re going low carb, serve it over Cauliflower Rice or Creamy Mashed Cauliflower.

How to cook white rice – easily and perfectly

Coconut Coriander/Cilantro Lime Rice

World’s best No Yeast Bread – Irish Soda Bread

Cauliflower Rice

Creamy Mashed Cauliflower

For a side salad, this Cucumber Salad with Herb & Garlic Dressing would go really well. The fresh, juicy, crunchy cucumber goes really well with this creamy coconut sauce. Otherwise, serve it alongside a leafy green salad with a vinaigrette (rather than creamy dressing) such as French Dressing, Italian or Balsamic Dressing.

Enjoy! – Nagi x

Watch how to make it

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Brazilian Fish Stew (Moqueca Baiana)

Author: Nagi | RecipeTin Eats

Prep: 10 minutes mins

Cook: 25 minutes mins

Total: 35 minutes mins

Fish, Stew

Brazilian

4.94 from 137 votes

Servings4 – 5

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Recipe video above. A traditional Brazilian dish in a delicately flavoured coconut base broth with terrific depth of flavour that belies the relatively short ingredient list! The broth is quite refreshing and not too rich, unlike many strong flavoured, rich coconut based curries. I made this just using fish but it is also made as a seafood stew with prawns and calamari.

Ingredients

Fish

• ▢ 1 lb / 500g firm white fish fillet , no skin, cut into 1″/2.5cm cubes (Note 1)
• ▢ 1 tbsp lime juice
• ▢ 1/4 tsp salt
• ▢ Black pepper
• ▢ 1 tbsp olive oil

Broth

• ▢ 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil or coconut oil (Note 4)
• ▢ 2 garlic cloves , minced
• ▢ 1 small onion , finely diced (brown, yellow or white)
• ▢ 1 red capsicum / bell pepper (large), halved and sliced
• ▢ 1 1/2 tsp sugar (any)
• ▢ 1 tbsp cumin powder
• ▢ 1 tbsp paprika
• ▢ 1 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
• ▢ 1/2 tsp salt
• ▢ 14 oz / 400ml coconut milk (full fat best, Note 2)
• ▢ 14 oz / 400ml canned crushed tomatoes
• ▢ 1 cup fish broth/stock (or chicken or vegetable, Note 3)

Finishes

• ▢ 1 – 2 tbsp lime juice , plus more for serving
• ▢ 3 tbsp roughly chopped fresh cilantro / coriander , plus more for serving

Cook ModePrevent screen from sleeping

Instructions

Fish

• Combine the fish, lime juice, oil, salt and pepper in a bowl. Cover with cling wrap and refrigerate for 20 minutes.
• Heat the 1 tbsp olive oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add the fish and cook until just cooked through and light golden brown. Remove from the skillet and set aside.

Broth

• Reduce the stove to medium high and heat 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil in the same skillet. Add the garlic and onion and cook for 1 1/2 minutes or until the onion is starting to become translucent.
• Add the bell peppers and cook for 2 minutes.
• Add the remaining Broth ingredients. Bring to simmer, then turn down to medium. Cook for 15 to 20 minutes or until it thickens. Adjust salt and pepper to taste.
• Return the fish to the broth to reheat – about 2 minutes.
• Stir through lime juice.
• Garnish with cilantro/coriander and serve with rice or Lime Rice. For a low carb option, try Cauliflower Rice!

Recipe Notes:

1. Fish – This dish is best made with firm white fish fillets because they hold their shape better. Firm white fish fillets include: Tilapia, hake, ling, blue-eye trevalla, emperors, mahi-mahi (dolphinfish), monkfish, halibut, cod, bass, catfish, John/silver Dory, barramundi, bream, hoki, any kind of snapper (which is what I used).

Salmon and trout also fantastic. I personally avoid fish that goes dry if cooked even slightly too long, like swordfish and tuna. If you use these fish take care not to overcook them.

2. Coconut milk – full fat is best because the coconut flavour is in the fat.

3. Fish broth/stock – I am a bit fussy when it comes to store bought fish stock. I only use store bought if I get a “good” one (read: expensive). Otherwise, I prefer chicken or vegetable stock (every day brands ok).

4. Palm oil – adding this note after several abusive messages received. Palm oil is the traditional oil used in this dish, but I am aware it is a controversial product and I am not endorsing its use, nor have I ever purchased or used it myself. I am merely noting that it is the traditional oil used in this recipe. Hopefully will not receive any more abusive messages!

5. Source: As with every traditional dish in this world, there are many variations of Brazilian Fish Stew! My recipe is a mish mash of various recipes that stays true to the traditional recipe but slightly tweaked to work for my palette. The main difference is that I like sauce so mine is saucier than most! The recipes I referenced include:
a) Feast Magazine – Fish soup (moqueca baiana)
b) Brazilian Foodie – Moqueca Baiana
c) Saveur – Brazilian Fish Stew
d) Simply Recipes – Moqueca – Brazilian Fish Stew

6. Nutrition per serving assuming 4 servings, excludes rice.

Nutrition Information:

Serving: 609gCalories: 367cal (18%)Carbohydrates: 20g (7%)Protein: 29g (58%)Fat: 19g (29%)Saturated Fat: 9g (56%)Cholesterol: 63mg (21%)Sodium: 917mg (40%)Potassium: 917mg (26%)Fiber: 4g (17%)Sugar: 9g (10%)Vitamin A: 2236IU (45%)Vitamin C: 55mg (67%)Calcium: 92mg (9%)Iron: 4mg (22%)

Keywords: brazilian fish stew, fish stew, moqueca baiana

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Originally published September 2015. Updated with new photos, brand new video and of course, a Life of Dozer section added!!

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