Vatapá

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Vatapá is the heart of Bahian cuisine — a luscious, creamy stew of shrimp simmered in a base of bread, peanuts, cashews, ginger, dried shrimp, coconut milk, and red palm (dendê) oil. The texture is rich and pudding-like, the flavor deeply layered with West African and indigenous Brazilian roots. Served over rice or with acarajé, it's a celebration of Afro-Brazilian heritage.

Ingredientes

Sirve 6

• 500 gshrimp, peeled and deveined
• 100 gdried shrimp, soaked and chopped
• 200 gstale bread, crusts removed, cubed
• 1 cupcoconut milk (for soaking bread)
• 1 cuproasted peanuts
• 1/2 cupraw cashews
• 1 cancoconut milk (400ml)
• 1/4 cupred palm oil (dendê) — essential
• 2 largeonions, chopped
• 4 clovesgarlic, chopped
• 2 tbspginger, grated
• 2 mediumtomatoes, chopped
• 1red bell pepper, chopped
• 2malagueta or Thai bird chilies, chopped
• 1/2 cupfresh cilantro, chopped
• 1lime, juiced
• 2 tspsalt
• 1 tspblack pepper

Instrucciones

1. 1

   Soak bread

   Soak bread cubes in 1 cup coconut milk 15 minutes.

2. 2

   Make base paste

   Blend bread (with milk), peanuts, cashews, dried shrimp, half the onion, half the garlic, ginger, tomatoes, bell pepper, and chilies until smooth paste.

   Blend in batches if needed and scrape down the sides so no chunks of nut or bread remain.

3. 3

   Cook aromatics

   Heat 2 tbsp dendê oil in heavy pot. Cook remaining onion and garlic until soft, 8 minutes.

4. 4

   Add base

   Stir in blended base paste. Cook 5 minutes, stirring constantly to prevent sticking.

   Use a wide wooden spoon and reach into the corners of the pot to prevent scorching.

5. 5

   Add coconut milk

   Slowly stir in remaining coconut milk. Simmer gently 20 minutes, stirring frequently. Mixture should be thick and pudding-like.

6. 6

   Add shrimp

   Add fresh shrimp. Cook 5 minutes until pink and just cooked through.

7. 7

   Finish

   Stir in remaining dendê oil, lime juice, cilantro, salt, and pepper. Adjust seasoning.

8. 8

   Serve

   Serve over white rice or alongside acarajé. Top with extra cilantro.

Variaciones

• •

  Use chicken or fish instead of shrimp.

• •

  Add hearts of palm for texture.

Almacenamiento

Refrigerate up to 3 days. Tastes even better next day.

Preguntas frecuentes