A rich, thick Bahian cream of ground shrimp, coconut milk, peanuts, and dendê oil thickened with bread, spiced with ginger and malagueta pepper — a luscious Afro-Brazilian delicacy.
Ingredients
500g shrimp, peeled and deveined
200g dried shrimp, ground
400ml coconut milk
150g roasted peanuts, ground
100g cashew nuts, ground
4 slices stale bread, soaked in coconut milk
1 large onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 tbsp dendê oil
1 piece fresh ginger, grated
2 malagueta peppers, minced
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
Salt to taste
Juice of 1 lime
Instructions
1Blend soaked bread with coconut milk until smooth. Set aside.
2Sauté onion and garlic in dendê oil until golden. Add ginger and malagueta peppers.
3Add ground dried shrimp, ground peanuts, and ground cashews. Stir well for 3 minutes.
4Pour in the bread-coconut mixture and stir continuously over medium-low heat for 15 minutes until thick and creamy.
5Add fresh shrimp and cook for 5-7 minutes until shrimp are pink and cooked through.
6Finish with lime juice and cilantro. Adjust salt.
7Serve over white rice with additional dendê oil drizzled on top.
Did You Know?
Vatapá is so important to Bahian identity that it appears in the lyrics of numerous Brazilian songs and is an essential offering in Candomblé ceremonies honoring the orixá Oxalá.