Fish Vatapa Food

VATAPA FISH SOUP WITH COCONUT MILK

Steps:

• In a large stock pot, heat the dende oil over medium low heat. Add the onion, garlic, ginger, and chiles. Cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are well softened. Add the tomatoes, lime juice, ground shrimp, and cashew butter and stir together for 1 minute more. Begin adding the chicken stock, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring all the time to keep the mixture smooth. Add the coconut milk, cilantro, salt, and Tabasco.
• When ready to serve, brush a very large, deep skillet or saucepan with a little oil and place in the fish in a single layer. Place the pan over medium low heat and, when it just begins to sizzle, pour in the broth mixture and slowly bring up to a simmer. Cook for about 8 minutes, or until the fish is opaque, adding the shrimp for the last 2 minutes of simmering time. Distribute the fish evenly among 6 or 8 bowls. Taste the broth for seasoning and pour over the fish. Squeeze a wedge of lime over each bowl and drop it in. Garnish with cilantro sprigs, if desired, and serve.

SEAFOOD SAUTE WITH COCONUT AND NUTS: VATAPA DE CAMARONES Y PESCADO

Steps:

• Soak the dried shrimp in warm water, to cover, for 10 minutes. Drain the shrimp, puree them in food processor or blender, and set aside.
• Heat the 1/4 cup of dende oil or olive oil in a heavy skillet and saute the onions, garlic, jalapeno, cashews, almonds, and pureed dried shrimp for 10 minutes. Add the fish stock and coconut milk and simmer for 5 minutes.
• Add the sea bass and poach it in the sauce for about 12 minutes until the fish is flaky. Add the raw shrimp and cilantro cook for another 4 minutes.
• Drizzle with the remaining 1 tablespoon dende oil and serve with white rice.

FISH SOUP

Steps:

• Heat a large heavy stockpot and to it add the olive oil. Add the fish bones and cook them over low heat, covered, until any flesh on them flakes from the bones. Add the vegetables and any shells from the shrimp, cover and cook over low heat until the vegetables sweat, about 10 minutes.
• Deglaze the pot with the wine, scraping up any particles sticking to the bottom of the pan. Stir in the saffron, thyme, and basil.
• Add the fish stock or water, and let the mixture gently boil for 1 hour. Then puree it in a food processor or pass it through a food mill. Pass the puree through a medium strainer into a clean stockpot. Stir in the Pernod. Season the base, to taste, with salt, pepper and cayenne. The soup should have a full-bodied flavor: If it seems weak, reduce it over low heat to concentrate the flavor.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Skim any fish oil from the top of the soup and reserve it to stir into the rouille.
• Toast the croutons in the oven until golden, and then brush with rouille.
• Bring the soup to a boil. Add the shellfish and/or uncooked fish fillets to the soup, 1 variety at a time. Cook each until done; then remove from the soup and keep warm. (The lobsters will take about 10 minutes and their shells will be bright red when done; medium shrimp will take 3 or 4 minutes to cook; fish fillets from 1 to 7 minutes, depending on their thickness (they should remain slightly underdone); and the mussels and clams only cook for 3 to 5 minutes, until their shells open).
• Presentation: Place 1 crouton in the bottom of each large, shallow, heated soup plates. Then arrange the fish and/or shellfish around each crouton. Ladle the hot soup over all. Serve immediately. Pass additional rouille in a separate serving bowl.
• Clean the fish bones under cold running water, removing the gills from the head and any traces of blood on the frames.
• In a large saucepan, heat the oil. In it sweat the fish bones and vegetables over low heat, covered, for 10 minutes, stirring once or twice to prevent them from browning.
• Deglaze the pan with the wine, and then add enough water to cover the bones and vegetables by 2 inches. Add the bouquet garni and bring the liquid to a boil. Skim the froth from the surface, reduce the heat, and simmer the stock for 20 to 25 minutes.
• Strain the stock into a clean saucepan. Bring it to a boil and reduce it over medium heat to 1 quart.
• Note: Fish stock will keep in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 days or frozen for 2 to 3 weeks. After that time the flavor begins to fade.
• Yield: 1 quart
• Prep Time: 20 minutes
• Cook Time: 35 minutes
• In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, garlic, mustard, and chili flakes. Whisk in the oil in a very slow steady stream until the sauce begins to emulsify. Add the remaining oil in a thin stream until all of it is incorporated. Add the saffron. Thin the sauce with the stock and season, to taste, with lemon juice, salt, and pepper.
• Yield: 1 1/2 cups
• Prep Time: 10 minutes

BRAZILIAN SEAFOOD STEW-VATAPA

Steps:

• Cover dried shrimp with warm water. Let stand 15 minutes; drain. Finely chop shrimp; reserve.
• Cook and stir onion, chiles, garlic, paprika and red pepper in 2 tablespoons oil in Dutch oven over medium heat until onion is tender. Stir in coconut milk, tomatoes, salt and reserved dried shrimp. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer uncovered 15 minutes. Stir in bread crumbs and peanut butter until well blended and mixture is consistency of thick sauce; keep warm over low heat.
• Heat 3 tablespoons oil in skillet until hot. Cook and stir raw shrimp in oil over medium heat until pink, about 3 minutes. Remove shrimp to sauce mixture with slotted spoon. Add more oil to skillet if necessary. Cook and stir fish until it flakes easily with fork, 3 to 4 minutes. Gently stir fish into sauce mixture. Sprinkle with cilantro; serve with salsa if desired.

FISH VATAPA

Steps:

• Add the bread to the coconut milk. Using a food processor, a small quantity at a time, blend the peanuts and dried shrimp and add to the first mixture. Bring mixture to a boil and then blend mixture in food processor.
• Brown onions lightly in oil then add the tomatoes, parsley, chives, and the bay leaf. Cut up the cooked shrimp fine and add. Add the fish and a little water.
• Cover the pan and cook 5-6 minutes or until the fish flakes easily with a fork. Do not overcook.
• Remove fish and shrimp to a deep dish. Take the sauce the fish was cooked in, puree it in food processor and add to original mixture. Bring original mixture to a boil and pour over fish and shrimp.