Moqueca with Plantain Rice

Moqueca is a Brazilian stew typically cooked with white fish in a coconut base. It is usually served with onion-and-garlic-filled Brazilian rice, but in this recipe we substitute white rice with plantain rice, which happens to fit in well with the stew’s South American flavors. This version just calls for white fish, but you can also make it heartier by adding in shrimp or crab. Although I used olive oil in this recipe, you can also use palm oil, which is more traditional.

Serves 2–4

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided

1 medium white fish fillet

1 medium onion

4 cloves garlic

1 large tomato

1 cup vegetable broth

1 cup coconut milk

1⁄2 teaspoon red chili flakes

2 tablespoons chopped cilantro

Lime, to taste

Ingredients for Brazilian Plantain Rice

2 large plantains

1⁄2 medium onion

2 cloves garlic

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1⁄3 cup vegetable broth

Salt

Pepper

  1. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a small pan on medium heat. Add white fish and cook for 3–4 minutes on each side. Set aside.
  2. Chop onions, garlic, and tomatoes. In a large pot, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil. Add garlic and onions and cook for 5 minutes. Add tomatoes and cook for an additional 3 minutes. Add broth, coconut milk, and red chili flakes and stir everything together. Add fish, breaking it up into pieces in the soup. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer for 10–15 minutes.
  3. While soup is cooking, prepare Brazilian Plantain Rice. Peel plantains, cut in half crosswise, and slice off both ends. Spiralize using a small-noodle blade. You can choose to put noodles in a food processor and pulse into rice or chop with a knife, or you can put noodles into the pan and break pieces up using a spatula.
  4. Chop onions and garlic. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a medium pan on medium heat. Add onions and garlic and cook for 3–4 minutes. Add plantains, breaking into small pieces of rice if you haven’t already. Cook for 2 minutes, then add vegetable broth. Cook for an additional 2–3 minutes and then season with salt and pepper.
  5. Remove soup from heat and add plantain rice. Mix together, and top with cilantro and lime. Serve warm.