Moqueca (Brazilian Fish Soup) was by far my favorite thing we had to eat while we were in Brazil. It has a rich, salty broth, a robust tomato presence, and melt-in-your-mouth pieces of flaky, buttery white fish. Basically, heaven on earth. I’m a total sucker for anything containing fish sauce + coconut milk. But you already knew that, didn’t you?
While this dish is full of complex flavor profiles, it is very simple to make and takes very little active time. The fish likes to marinate for three hours in the fridge, so making this on a weekend may be your best bet. Or, do as I do,and put the fish in the fridge to marinate before you leave for work.
I’ll confess that I’ve made this a few times without marinating the fish first – if you forget to marinate, just go ahead and make it. It will still be super yummy 🙂
I like to use tilapia, but any firm white fish like snapper, grouper, or sea bass would work perfectly well. Fish is getting expensive, so buy whatever you can find at a good price!
The only ingredient in this dish that you might not be familiar with is hearts of palm – hearts of palm is a vegetable that is harvested from the inner core of a palm or coconut tree. It is very mild and has the slightest tender-crisp crunch to it. Many of the salads we had in Brazil were topped with chopped hearts of palm, and at first I was a little wary of eating it. I’m glad I did, because they are super yummy, and now I always have a jar in my fridge! You can find it near the other marinated-vegetables (like artichokes, olives, etc.) if your regular old grocery store.
Here’s the Moqueca Recipe!
