Bobó de Camarão – Brazilian Shrimp Stew
Bobó de Camarão is an iconic Brazilian Shrimp Stew recipe that features shrimp, palm oil, coconut milk and yuca root. This colorful dish has delicate flavor and texture, thanks to the combination of yuca and coconut milk. It's an easy, yet impressive one-pot recipe meant for serving over rice and sharing with loved ones. Your familia is going to love it!
Servings: 6 people
Calories: 311kcal
Ingredients
- 1 large onion, diced a heaping cup
- 2 teaspoons of palm oil azeite de dendê
- 1 tablespoon Brazilian sofrito or 4 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1.3 pounds yuca root, peeled, shredded
- 2 pounds large shrimp, peeled and deveined pink, white, etc
- 3 tomatoes, cut into chunks
- 1/4 cup red bell pepper, diced
- 1/4 cup green bell pepper, diced
- 1/4 cup yellow bell pepper, diced
- 1-2 hot peppers Dedo de moça, red aji pepper, Serrano pepper
- 1 tablespoon grated ginger
- 1 14oz can of coconut milk
- 1 lime, juiced
- 1/4 cup green onion, sliced
- 1/4 cup cilantro, roughly chopped and more for garnish
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Heat the palm oil in a dutch oven over medium heat.
- Add the onion and saute until soft.
- Next, add the Brazilian sofrito, and saute until fragrant.
- Then, add the bell peppers, and saute until soft.
- Then, add the tomatoes and cook until soft.
- Add in the ginger and the chopped cilantro. Stir to combine.
- Add the shredded yuca, season with salt and pepper and stir to combine.
- Pour in the coconut milk, and 2 cups of water. Stir and simmer covered over low heat until the yuca is cooked, about 25 minutes, while stirring regularly.
- About halfway, add the chopped green onions and the chili peppers—if the mixture starts to get too thick, and starts to stick at the bottom of the pan, add another cup of water. (Please note that there will be some pieces of yuca that aren't completely soft and disintegrated, and that's normal.)
- When the yuca is mostly cooked, add the lime juice to the peeled and deveined shrimp, and stir to combine.
- After about 2 minutes, add the shrimp to the mixture. Cook another 10-15 minutes, until shrimp is just cooked and pink. (Cooking the shrimp for much longer will yield chewy, tough shrimp.)
- Serve over white rice and garnish with fresh cilantro.
Bom Apetite!!
Notes
How to store: Let the Brazilian Shrimp Stew cool completely, and store in an airtight food storage container in the refrigerator for 4-5 days.
How to freeze: Once the stew has completely cooled, transfer to a freezer-safe food storage container. Keep in the freezer for up to 3 months. Defrost in the refrigerator before reheating and serving over rice.
A note on ingredients and substitutions:
- Yuca Root—there's no substitute for this, as it is a main ingredient. It is fairly easy to find in grocery stores or in Latin markets.
- Palm Oil—this is known in Portuguese as Azeite de Dendê. In big cities, it can be found in healthy stores like Whole Foods, Central Market, etc. or in Brazilian markets, African markets, Latin markets, Asian markets or online, like this one. This ingredient offers beautiful color to the dish, but please be careful not to exceed the amount the recipe calls for, as too much of it can cause indigestion. If you really can't find it, you may replace it with coconut oil, but please note, your dish will be more pale than what you see here...
- Shrimp—if you're using frozen shrimp, please note that your thawed shrimp will weigh less... so purchase extra.
- Hot Peppers—in Brazil, we use pimenta dedo de moça, which you can substitute for red aji pepper. Both are nearly impossible to find where I live, so I use Serrano pepper.
- Coconut Milk—you want to use the kind from the can, like this one. Do not the one from the box.
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 311kcal | Carbohydrates: 47g | Protein: 23g | Fat: 3g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 191mg | Sodium: 876mg | Potassium: 712mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 1188IU | Vitamin C: 69mg | Calcium: 119mg | Iron: 1mg