Moqueca Baiana

Ingredients

• 800 g firm white fish fillets, fresh only — cut into large portions
• 300 g shellfish, fresh prawns, mussels, or similar
• 400 ml full-fat coconut milk, added in the final 5 minutes only
• 3 tbsp dendê palm oil, divided: 2 tbsp for cooking, 1 tbsp reserved for finishing
• 3 medium tomatoes, sliced into rounds
• 2 medium onions, sliced into rounds
• 1 medium sweet pepper, sliced into rings
• 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 bunch fresh coriander, roughly chopped; stems and leaves separated
• 1 tsp fine salt

Method

1. 1
   Set the clay pot (panela de barro) over a medium flame. Add 2 tbsp of dendê palm oil and warm it until it shimmers and its deep amber colour blooms across the base of the pot.
2. 2
   Layer the onion rounds across the base of the pot, then the garlic, tomatoes, sweet pepper, and coriander stems in successive layers. Season with salt. Cover and cook over a medium flame for 8–10 minutes, until the tomatoes have collapsed and the onions are translucent and fragrant.
3. 3
   Lay the fish portions and shellfish over the vegetables in a single, even layer. Do not stir. Cover and cook gently for 3–4 minutes, until the fish begins to turn opaque at its edges — it should not yet be cooked through at the centre.
4. 4
   Pour the full-fat coconut milk evenly over the fish. This is where the dish lives or dies: the coconut milk must not enter the pot before this point, and the heat must remain moderate — extended heat or premature addition breaks the emulsion and strips the broth of its richness. Cover and cook for a further 5 minutes only, until the fish is just cooked through and yields without resistance when pressed, and the broth is a unified, orange-tinged cream.
5. 5
   Remove the pot from the flame. Drizzle the reserved 1 tbsp of raw dendê palm oil across the surface and scatter the coriander leaves over the top. The residual heat of the clay pot continues cooking; bring the pot directly to the table and serve immediately.