Fish Stews can be so boring…but not a BRAZILIAN Fish Stew!! With a fragrant tomato coconut sauce with a fresh hit of lime, this is such a different exotic way to serve up fish that is off the charts delicious – yet simple to make.
Brazilian Fish Stew
When I think of Brazilian food, I immediately have visions of grilled meat. Specifically, Churrasco. Serious quantities of grilled meat on giant skewers with the waiters walking from table to table, slicing the meat straight from the skewer onto my plate.
Carnivore heaven. 🙂
Because of the strong association of Brazilian food with Churrasco (and also because I don’t have a giant grill with a rotisserie) I thought sharing this traditional Brazilian fish stew would be nice for something a bit different!
The sauce of Brazilian Fish Stew is essentially a coconut curry sauce. Lightly spiced with a hit of lime, great depth of flavour!
What Brazilian Fish Stew tastes like
It tastes like a mild version of Thai Red Curry – and requires a whole lot less ingredients to make! The flavour of the sauce isn’t as kapow in-your-face, it is slightly more refreshing and not quite as rich.
While the flavour isn’t as intense, it doesn’t mean that it’s not as tasty! You will be amazing at the flavour you get from the relatively short list of ingredients. The key to this recipe is searing the fish first, and letting the sauce simmer down.
What you need
Here’s what you need to make Brazilian Fish Stew. See? I promised they were all “normal” ingredients!!!
Virtually any fish fillets will work here, though I’d avoid fish that dries out easily such as swordfish, kingfish, bonito and tuna. I’ve used snapper below. Other popular fish that will work well here include: tilapia, salmon, cod, basa, catfish, barramundi, bream, ling, John dory / Silver dory. See the recipes notes for more suggestions.
(Tip: These fish selection guidelines are good for any recipes where fish are braised or poached like this, such as Chinese Rice Soup and Goan Fish Curry.)
I remember the first time I saw this Brazilian Fish Stew recipe, I was a bit dubious that the sauce would have sufficient flavour with so few ingredients for the sauce. It gets a helping hand by searing the fish in the pan first. The golden bits left in the pan (it’s called fond) after searing the fish adds a good hit of savoury flavour into the sauce.
How to make Brazilian Fish Stew
And here’s how to make it. It takes around 1 hour all up including a brief marinating time for the fish, and simmering time to reduce the sauce.
What to serve with Fish Stew
Serve this over rice or mashed potato so you have something to soak up that glorious sauce. If you want to up the ante, try it with this Lime Rice – and a crusty hunk of bread to mop your plate clean wouldn’t go astray either (try this quick no-yeast Irish Bread).
If you’re going low carb, serve it over Cauliflower Rice or Creamy Mashed Cauliflower.
For a side salad, this Cucumber Salad with Herb & Garlic Dressing would go really well. The fresh, juicy, crunchy cucumber goes really well with this creamy coconut sauce. Otherwise, serve it alongside a leafy green salad with a vinaigrette (rather than creamy dressing) such as French Dressing, Italian or Balsamic Dressing.
Enjoy! – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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Brazilian Fish Stew (Moqueca Baiana)
Ingredients
Fish
- 1 lb / 500g firm white fish fillet , no skin, cut into 1"/2.5cm cubes (Note 1)
- 1 tbsp lime juice
- 1/4 tsp salt
- Black pepper
- 1 tbsp olive oil
Broth
- 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil or coconut oil (Note 4)
- 2 garlic cloves , minced
- 1 small onion , finely diced (brown, yellow or white)
- 1 red capsicum / bell pepper (large), halved and sliced
- 1 1/2 tsp sugar (any)
- 1 tbsp cumin powder
- 1 tbsp paprika
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 14 oz / 400ml coconut milk (full fat best, Note 2)
- 14 oz / 400ml canned crushed tomatoes
- 1 cup fish broth/stock (or chicken or vegetable, Note 3)
Finishes
- 1 - 2 tbsp lime juice , plus more for serving
- 3 tbsp roughly chopped fresh cilantro / coriander , plus more for serving
Instructions
Fish
- Combine the fish, lime juice, oil, salt and pepper in a bowl. Cover with cling wrap and refrigerate for 20 minutes.
- Heat the 1 tbsp olive oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add the fish and cook until just cooked through and light golden brown. Remove from the skillet and set aside.
Broth
- Reduce the stove to medium high and heat 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil in the same skillet. Add the garlic and onion and cook for 1 1/2 minutes or until the onion is starting to become translucent.
- Add the bell peppers and cook for 2 minutes.
- Add the remaining Broth ingredients. Bring to simmer, then turn down to medium. Cook for 15 to 20 minutes or until it thickens. Adjust salt and pepper to taste.
- Return the fish to the broth to reheat - about 2 minutes.
- Stir through lime juice.
- Garnish with cilantro/coriander and serve with rice or Lime Rice. For a low carb option, try Cauliflower Rice!
Recipe Notes:
a) Feast Magazine - Fish soup (moqueca baiana)
b) Brazilian Foodie - Moqueca Baiana
c) Saveur - Brazilian Fish Stew
d) Simply Recipes - Moqueca - Brazilian Fish Stew 6. Nutrition per serving assuming 4 servings, excludes rice.
Nutrition Information:
Originally published September 2015. Updated with new photos, brand new video and of course, a Life of Dozer section added!!
Less meat, more fish!
Life of Dozer
The one place in the new house he’s not allowed – the SPA. Can you imagine how much of his hair would come out with jets blasting on him?? Major filter clogging!!!
When I saw “abusive messages”, I cringed! Some people are so picky, jeez!
Your recipes are just the best, and as a Brazilian myself this is exactly how I do it. I’ve tried a substitute for the palm oil once (vegetable oil + ground turmeric), and honestly didn’t make any difference.
Thanks for this simple, easy and achievable recipe! (And oh so tasty)
🙂
Nagi thank you so much for this amazing recipe!!! The fish stew turned out great!!
You never disappoint!!! Another one of my go to fav’s from here on out!!
That’s so great to hear Libbles, thanks so much! N x
Another perfect recipe. Plenty of sauce & delicious flavours. Served with plenty of brown rice.
I’m so happy you enjoyed it Colleen – N x
Man, did I love this recipe! I cooked the sauce longer to thicken it more and it was lovely. I wonder if it would work as well with chicken thighs as snapper (which was great) was quite pricey. Any ideas?
Hi Mary, you could use chicken if you prefer – this even works well with frozen fish fillets which are quite cheap 🙂
I made this recipe for the first time last night and paired it with your suggestion of coriander lime rice. It was DELICIOUS and is definitely going to become a staple dish in our house. As someone else has said, it looks very attractive on the plate, and I think it will have that ‘wow’ factor for visitors – in looks and flavour! Thank you Nagi … I love your recipes, easy print versions and your videos. You should be on the telly! xxx
Yes definitely worthy of company Jackie, I’m so happy you enjoyed it!
Full fat coconut milk? Our cans don’t seem to specify. I do have coconut cream. Will that work?
Hi Jackie, we have low fat and full fat here – coconut cream will work just as well though 🙂
great dish,thank you
You’re so welcome Neil!
Made this last night, fantastic as usual for your recipes.
This is an exceptional dish, well done.
Ignore the abusers mate, you’ll always have haters and there is little one can do about them.
Thanks so much John!
I made this for dinner last night and it was sooooo good. Hubby went for seconds. He’s also a pretty good cook and he asked if it was a Nagi recipe. I have turned him on to you LOL! The end result of this dish is that it is also very pretty to look at. I used cod as my fish and I served this over rice and a green side salad. Nagi, I want to thank you, you are my go to every time I want to make something really good. You understand flavors and spicing like no other. Nothing is ever bland. Keep up the delicious work!
Oh that’s just lovely to hear Judith!!! Sounds like you nailed it – N x
Nagi you have outdone yourself, this is so delicious! Made it tonight over rice. Can’t believe how punchy the flavour is.
Wahoo! I’m so glad you enjoyed it Zak!
Made this last night with coconut lime rice and your sticky date for afterwards. All curled up like carpet snakes afterwards! Amazing thank you 🙂
YUUUUM!!! Sounds great Kyls!
This is about the 10th recipe I’ve made of yours, and once again it was a Winner! Bear in mind I’m far from even an average cook. When the kids ask for seconds, there is no better validation. Btw I got home late from work, and saw another commentator added the (raw) fish directly to the sauce…I did this, skipping the frying step and it worked just as well!
That’s the best compliment to the chef Marsha! I’m so happy it was a hit!
Hi! I made this wonderful fish stew last night! And it’s so delicious! I followed your recipe to the t. We had it with rice and couldn’t help but had bread too to soak up all the lovely sauce! Thank you!
I’m so glad you loved it!!
This recipe I cooked last night. For some reason I have never made a fish curry. It was delicious. I used cod which was perfect. This is definitely a keeper. Another winner Nagi thank you
You’re totally converted now Trudy! There’s no turning back 🙂
Wow wow! Packed with flavour. Definitely a keeper. Thanks Nagi xx
You’re so welcome Carol!
I’m just saying Nagi, you’re not getting my husband! His words “this tastes fantastic “! Used Ling and made cucumber salad as accompaniment.
😂 Love this! Sounds like he’s keeping you after cooking this recipe for him 😉
Great to have a new fish recipe for weeknights, we love this Brazilian dish, Thanks Nagi! Will your site enable us to save our favourite dishes some time in the future? You simply have too many great dishes to remember them all of by heart 😉
Hi Sjoerd – you can favourite the recipes by clicking on the heart on the bottom right of your screen – it will save to a favourites folder for you! N x
Wow! I am not a big fish fan, but I loved this stew. My husband, adult son, and I ate the entire pot. It was so tasty. We used. French. Bread to. Stop. Up. Sauce, so delicious. Thank you so much.
I’m os glad it was a hit Patricia!! Bread is ALWAYS a must!
Made this yesterday with salmon. Very tasty. I have added 1 teaspoon garam massala and a cup of cubed sweet potato….mmmmm…this recipe goes into my collection 🙂
thank you Nagi!!
Greta idea Rita, sounds divine!
Hi Nagi.
We are not lovers of coconut milk…rather my husband hates the flavour..I dont really mind. What can I use instead.?
Hi Marie, you could substitute with cream, but it’s just not quite the same – N x