Moqueca

Written by Istrinya Aldo on March 11th, 2008

 (for about 8 people)

Ingredients
• 2 kg fish (grouper or shark)
• Lime drops
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• ground black pepper (in Brazil we have an “white” “black pepper” - prefer it)
• 3 seedless redpeppers, sliced (rings)
• 1 kg ripe tomatoes (hard), sliced (round)
• 5 medium size onions, sliced (rings)
• 2 tbsp chopped coriander
• 2 tbsp chopped parsley
• 2 tbsp chopped chive
• 1 cup oil
• 250ml coconut-milk
• tbsp ‘dende’-oil (you can cook without, but it’s not gonna be what it should be - dende is extracted from an african oilpalm (Elaeis guineensis) - I don’t know if it is available where you are)

Directions
Cut fish into thick slices (ca. 2 fingers), season with lime, salt and pepper.
Let stand in fridge for 1 hour.
In a bowl, mix redpeppers, onions and tomatoes.
Add coriander, parsley and chive. Mix well. Spread some of the mixture over the bottom of a ‘clay’-pan (large). Add one layer of fish, one layer of the mixture, successively. Pour oil and cook on top of the oven, at low heat, for 30 minutes. Turn oven off, cover tightly, and let stand for ca. 2 hours.
Turn oven on, when it starts to boil, add the coconut-milk and the dende-oil.
Cook for ca. 15 minutes more. Taste if fish is well-cooked.
Serve with white rice.