Brazilian Shrimp and Fish Stew (Vatapá)
Vatapá Say it: vah-tah-PAH
Vatapá is a velvety stew from Bahia, on Brazil's northeast coast, where African, Portuguese and Indigenous cooking meet. Dried shrimp, peanuts and cashews are ground with bread, ginger, garlic and coconut milk, then finished with red palm oil (azeite de dendê) and fresh seafood. The result is thick, fragrant and gently spicy, glowing deep orange, and it is eaten at lunch with white rice — or heaped into acarajé, the black-eyed pea fritters sold on street corners.
Brazilian Shrimp and Fish Stew (Vatapá)
Vatapá
Pronounced vah-tah-PAH
- Serves
- 4
- Prep
- 20 min
- Cook
- 45 min
- Total
- 1 hr 5 min
- Level
- Medium
Also egg-free.
Allergens: contains gluten, peanuts, nuts, fish, shellfish. Check labels on packaged ingredients.
Ingredients
Amounts are scaled. Cooking times and pan sizes stay the same.
Seafood
The thick paste
The stew
To serve
Method
Put the dried shrimp in a small bowl, cover with the 1 cup (240 ml) hot water and leave to soak for 20 minutes. Drain through a sieve, keeping the soaking liquid, then rinse the shrimp briefly. Meanwhile, toss the peeled fresh shrimp with the lime juice and a pinch of salt.
Tear the bread into pieces, put it in a bowl and pour over 1/2 cup (120 ml) of the coconut milk. Let it sit for 5 minutes until soft, then squeeze it gently — it should be moist but not dripping.
Blend the soaked dried shrimp, peanuts, cashews, garlic, ginger, chili and the soaked bread with 1/2 cup (120 ml) of the shrimp soaking liquid and the remaining 1 cup (240 ml) coconut milk for 1 to 2 minutes, until you have a thick, smooth, sandy-cream paste.
Heat the olive oil in a heavy pot over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 5 minutes, until soft and translucent, then add the tomatoes and cook 5 minutes more, until they collapse into a rough sauce.
Scrape in the blended paste, add the remaining 1/2 cup (120 ml) shrimp soaking liquid and the salt. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring often with a wooden spoon, for 15 to 20 minutes, until the stew is thick and glossy and a spoon drawn across the bottom leaves a clear trail.
Stir in the dendê palm oil and cook 5 minutes more; the stew should turn a deep orange-red, with a thin sheen of oil at the edges.
Lower the heat, add the fish cubes and simmer gently for 5 minutes, then add the fresh shrimp and cook 3 to 4 minutes, until the shrimp are pink and curled and the fish flakes easily.
Taste and adjust the salt, stir in half of the cilantro and take the pot off the heat. Serve hot over white rice, scattered with the rest of the cilantro.
Regional variant: Chicken Vatapá (Vatapá de Galinha)
Use 1 lb (450 g) cooked, shredded chicken in place of the fish and fresh shrimp, and keep the dried shrimp in the paste for depth — or leave it out and add 1 extra tablespoon of ground peanuts. Make the base exactly as above, then simmer the shredded chicken in the finished stew for the last 10 minutes instead of the seafood. It is the homier, everyday version, served the same way with rice.
Cook's notes
- Dendê has a strong, earthy flavor all its own. If you cannot find it, use 2 tbsp (30 ml) olive oil with 1 tsp annatto (urucum) powder and a pinch of smoked paprika for color — close in look, though not in taste.
- Keep the heat low once the palm oil goes in and stir from the bottom of the pot so the coconut milk doesn't split.
- The stew tightens as it stands; loosen it with a splash of coconut milk or water when you reheat it.
Serve with
White rice, farofa and a bottle of hot pepper sauce (molho de pimenta); or spooned into acarajé.
Make ahead and storage
Keeps up to 3 days in the fridge. Reheat gently over low heat with a splash of coconut milk or water, stirring, until it loosens.
