How To Make Moqueca (Brazilian Fish Stew)

How To Make Moqueca (Brazilian Fish Stew) is the easiest recipe to get you a very flavorful stew. Bell peppers, tomato, onion and garlic add the best veggie flavor to the coconut milk based stew. A finishing of fresh cilantro adds the perfect brightness to compliment this creamy dish.

The first time that I had the pleasure of tasting this beautiful dish was about 12 years ago. I used to have a lot of Brazilian coworkers and I loved getting to try different dishes that they would bring in from home. A coworker brought in some Moqueca that his wife had made for dinner the night before and it blew me away. It was absolutely indescribable. It was so different than anything I had eaten before and I was hooked. I had to learn how to make it for myself.

My first attempt came when I made this for my Mom and brother. I brought some over to their house. I served it over fresh, hot Jasmine rice. My Mother and brother absolutely loved it. And if you’ve seen my other blog posts, you know that my Mother was probably the world’s greatest chef. So any compliments I ever got from her on my cooking meant the world to me.

One of my favorite coworkers of all time was an older Brazilian gentleman and I figured he would be my perfect test subject. I brought him in a serving of Moqueca to work one evening. He told me it was absolutely perfect and that he hadn’t enjoyed this recipe in the 20 years since he had left Brazil. This recipe had his official stamp of approval.

Moqueca is a recipe that’s so flavorful that even my teenage son loves it. He’s not picky by any means. However, he is not the biggest seafood fan. This is the only way he eats white fish and it’s one of his favorite dinners that I make. Moqueca is a delicious stew and we serve it over white rice. So it almost becomes sort of like a sauce that covers the rice and he loves it.

This is an excellent meal option for weeknight dinners. The stew comes together quite simply and easily. And then once the prep is done, you can just allow your stew to simmer while it finishes cooking. The longer it cooks, the more the flavors develop and meld together. It’s hard to believe how flavorful this stew turns out because it is so easy to prepare.

This is a recipe with relatively few ingredients which makes throwing it together a breeze. It’s also a good meal to use up some extra vegetables that you have laying around in the fridge. It has few ingredients and makes few dishes for clean-up as well. What’s better than only having to clean one pan? Nothing!

What is Moqueca?

Moqueca (pronounced mo-KEH-kah) is a Brazilian fish stew. It has delicious flavor from bell peppers, onion, tomato and garlic that really enhance the haddock. Coconut milk and lemon come together to make a beautiful sauce. And cilantro provides the finishing touch to add fresh brightness to this dish. Moqueca tastes better and better the longer it stews. This dish can be served with white rice and lime wedges or simply by itself as a stew.

Variations and Substitutions:

• Bell peppers: You can use two orange, two green or whatever bell pepper combination you prefer. Feel free to swap out the green or orange bell peppers for a red or yellow.
• Purple onion: This is a matter of preference. Purple onions (or red onions) are my favorite but you can use a Vidalia or white onion. You can also use the white parts of a green onion if that’s what you have on hand.
• Tomato: I use a whole fresh tomato. You may substitute with about 10 chopped cherry tomatoes or a drained and rinsed can of diced tomatoes.
• White fish: You can use tilapia, haddock, shrimp, scallops, mussels, clams or calamari. I have also used frozen seafood mixes for this dish. Fresh or frozen seafood are both fine for this recipe.
• Fish sauce: You can omit the fish sauce if need be. However, I really feel like it’s the ingredient that ties all of the flavors in this dish together. If you don’t add fish sauce, you can add a little additional salt to taste.

How To Make Moqueca (Brazilian Fish Stew)

When cooking this dish, it’s important that the bell pepper, onion, garlic, tomato and haddock are cooked together in oil first in the pan. This will bring out the best flavor in the ingredients and deliver the best tasting stew.

Once the haddock is added to the pan, squeeze the lemon juice over the top. This offers great fresh citrus flavor and the citrus helps neutralize the smell of cooking fish in the house.

Once you add the coconut milk and remaining ingredients, you’ll want to cook Moqueca for at least 30 minutes and up to two hours or longer. The longer you let it simmer on low, the better the resulting dish will be and the more all of the flavors can come together.

How to serve Moqueca?

It’s a stew and can certainly be enjoyed be itself. Moqueca is delicious served over freshly cooked white rice. When serving, garnish with fresh cilantro and a lemon or lime wedge. A delicious roll of pão de queijo (Brazilian cheese bread) on the side would compliment this dish wonderfully as well. You could also serve this dinner with fried plantains on the side.

Instructions

Chop green and orange bell pepper, tomato, purple onion and garlic.

Heat olive oil in a large pan sprayed skillet. Add the chopped veggies and season with salt and black pepper. Allow to cook for 8 minutes while stirring occasionally.

Add haddock and lemon juice. You do not need to cut or slice the fish. Move the vegetables around in the pan to cover the haddock with them. Cover with a lid and allow fish and veggies to cook for an additional 5 minutes.

Pour in unsweetened coconut milk and fish sauce. Cover with lid and let simmer on low for at least 30 minutes and up to 2 hours or more. The longer the stew cooks, the more the flavors will develop and enhance. The fish will break apart as it stews.

During the last 5 minutes of cooking, stir in fresh cilantro. You can serve with lime wedges, rice and/or chili peppers.

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What’s your favorite Brazilian dish? Did you add any different veggies to your Moqueca? Let me know in the comments below. As always, thank you so very much for supporting the Spice and Sugar Mama food blog!