Published in about 7 hours · Last edited in about 7 hours · 4 min read

Moqueca Baiana or Capixaba?

I was born in Sao Mateus, ES. There we make "Moqueca Capixaba", which has a slightly different ingredient list from the Moqueca Baiana, such as not having coconut milk or dende oil.

Some people would say that the main difference from the Moqueca Capixaba to the Baiana, is that the capixaba is lighter, and has less spicies; it is a bit more soup-like. The Moqueca Baiana is thicker due to the coconut milk mixed with dende oil, as well as a heavier seasoning.

However, I happen to be grandson of a "mulher baiana" (a woman born and raised in Bahia), and I love the taste of coconut oil with dende. So I decided to make my own version mixing what I love from the two recipes.

Since I live in The Netherlands, this recipe is also tailored to using products that you can find in Albert Heijn. However, you still may need some brazilian products (such as dende oil and manioc flour). For that, I'll leave some links where to order it from.

There is also the "Moqueca de Bacalhau" which takes the Cod fish (Kabeljauw, in Dutch) slices and cooks them in the Moqueca sauce. Since it is easier to find Cod fish in The Netherlands, I decided to use this fish for this.

Time

It should take you around 30~45 minutes in total to cook this meal.
Most of the time goes into the preparation. The cooking takes roughly 20 minutes.

Ingredients

• 1kg of kabeljauw filet
• 4 limes
• 2 red bellpepper
• 1 yellow bellpepper
• 2 onions
• 4 tomatoes
• 1 chilli pepper
• 1 carolina reaper/habanero pepper (optional)
• 2 garlic clove
• 500ml of coconut milk
• 125ml of dende oil
• "cheiro verde":

  • 1 bosui
  • 1 peterselie
• salt
• black pepper

Steps

Marinating the fish

• Press 4 limes to get their juice into a bucket, add some salt; this is your marinade.
• Wash the kabeljauw filet
• Cut the kabeljauw filets into 7.5cm blocks
• Put them into the marinade.
• Leave it marinating in the fridge while you prepare the other ingredients

Preparing the vegetables

• Cut the onions in small 3cm blocks

• Keep the onions into their own bowl.

• Clean the bellpepper: remove the seeds and the white parts inside, wash the bellpepper as you do it.

• Cut both yellow and red bellpepers in small 3cm blocks.

• Keep the bellpeppers into their own bowl.

• Cut the garlic cloves into small pieces (you can use a garlic press as well.)

• Clean the chillipepper: same as the bellpeppers

• Cut the chillipepper into small pieces.

• Do the same with the carolina/habanero.

• Keep the garlic and the peppers into their own bowl.

• Cut the bosui into small rings

• Cut the peterselie leaves (not the branches)

• Keep them into their own bowl and mix. This is our "cheiro verde".

• Cut the tomatoes into rectangular wedges. Each tomato usually gives 4 wedges.

• Keep them into their own bowl for later.

Preparing the dende coconut milk

• In a mixer, add the 500ml of coconut milk, the 125ml of dende oil, and a tablespoon of salt.
• Mix it until they emulsify.

Start cooking

• Turn on the fire on medium setting.
• Get a very big pan.
• Add some olive oil to heat up.
• Throw the onions in and add some salt. Mix them for ~1 minute, or until they get soften and golden.
• Throw the bellpeppers. Mix them for ~2 minutes, or until they get soften.
• Throw the garlic and peppers for aroma and taste. Mix them for ~2 minutes, or until the garlic gets well mixed and softened.
• Throw the dende coconut milk in.
• Using a pinch: start adding the kabeljauw blocks inside the dende coconut milk. Make sure they're at least partially covered. Feel free to add the lime marinade in as well.
• Using a pinch: start adding the tomato wedges, with their skin facing up.
• Close the pan and leave it cooking on low-medium fire for ~15 minutes.

Serve

• Serve with some rice, farofa, batata palha, and/or fried cassava. Make sure to have a nice pepper sauce.
• If you want a next level side: try making a "Pirao de Peixe".

Enjoy!