Brazilian Stew Fish or Moqueka

Hello friends, cooking a dish here called “Moqueka,” a Brazilian fish stew dish. This is the second time that I’ll be cooking this dish since I’ve gotten the recipe from SimplyRecipes.com, which I modified slightly based on my desired taste.

Nevertheless, I was basically awed and inspired by the presentation look of this dish when I first saw it. Yeah…more or less it’s all about presentation. When I tried doing this for the first time I was actually amazed and surprised how I loved this dish and that was like two months ago.

This time, I thought I’d make it and share it with everyone who likes and loves to eat food from different countries and perhaps you too will enjoy the deliciousness and/or exoticness of this dish as I have. Because I do like to try to eat other foods from other countries and most of the time I find that I love and enjoy eating the food. Oh, so just you know this food is a little bit spicy. Anyways, happy cooking!

Ingredients
1-2 lbs. any firm white fish fillets. (Note: I prefer flounder specifically for this type of dish).
½ tsp salt
3 cloves, minced garlic
½ ground black pepper
4 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tbl olive oil
1 cup chopped yellow onions
1 medium: chopped or sliced yellow, red, and green bell peppers
2 cups chopped tomatoes or 1 14oz. can crushed tomatoes
1 tbl paprika
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1large chopped cilantro, reserved some for garnish
1 14oz. can coconut milk

Steps and Procedures

Cut fish fillets into large pieces. Place fish fillet pieces in a bowl. Add salt, minced garlic, ground pepper, and lime juice to coat. Keep the fillet mixture chilled in the fridge for about 10 minutes.

In a large covered cooking pot or deep frying pan, heat olive oil on medium heat. Then add the chopped onions and cook until softened. Next, add the bell peppers, paprika, and red pepper flakes. Then add salt and pepper, according to your own taste. Cook until the bell peppers begins to soften, but not overcooked. Stir in the chopped tomatoes. Bring to a simmer uncover and cook for about 3-5 minutes. Stir in the chopped cilantro (just half of the bunch).

Then remove half of the vegetables from the pan by using a large spoon and place it into a small bowl. You will return this half of the vegetables back to the pan later. The remaining vegetables on the pan will served as a bed for the fish.

Then take the fish fillet pieces from the fridge and arrange them on top of the vegetables in the cooking pan. Then return the removed vegetables on top of the fish so that the fish fillet pieces are covered with the vegetables. Then pour coconut milk over the fish and vegetables.

Bring the fish stew to a simmer, reduce the heat, cover, and let it simmer for about 12-15 minutes. Taste the stew and adjust seasonings according to your desired taste. Remove from heat. Serve and garnish with the remaining cilantro. This dish is very good paired with rice or you may serve it with bread of your choice. Enjoy and bon appetite.

Images taken from my iPhone6+