Bobó de Camarão: An Afro-Brazilian Dish From Bahia

Farofa (far left), Bobó de Camarão (center),
and white rice (far right)

One of my favorite Brazilian dishes is Bobó de Camarão, an Afro-Bahian/Salvadoran dish of shrimp, coconut milk, and pureed cassava. Yum! In Portuguese, bobó is pureed cassava and camarão is shrimp--they are the main components of the dish.

-Street food all day, everyday!
-Baianas--traditionally-dressed women from Bahia, like her!

The Bahians that cooked for us served the shrimp deheaded, but in-shell, and ate everything but the tail--I tried it and it wasn't too bad, very chewy. Still, I'm not getting into the habit of eating shrimp shells. My recreation will call for shelled shrimp :)

The dendê palm oil was the hardest thing to get my hands on--I couldn't find any locally. Honestly, I didn't look very hard. It was fast,easy, and cheap to order online. Thanks Amazon Prime!

And then there's the coconut thing. I have never seen coconut so incorporated into cuisine like it is in Brazil. Clubs, bars, and beach huts sell whole coconuts with straws so you can get fresh coconut water, and coconut milk is in nearly every dish. This recipe uses 8 whole cups! Wow. Coconut Milk in recipes was new to me prior to living in the DMV, so to see it widely used in Salvador, which reminds me so much of Charleston, was a little strange. Then again, we don't really have coconut trees in SC, so that explains things :) Anyway, it has become one of my favorite kitchen essentials.

I was shocked by how easy this is to create. It is so delicious, but a definite splurge with all the coconut milk! Recipe below:

Manioc cream:
2 lbs Onions, chopped
2 lbs Tomatoes, seeded and chopped
2 Bell Peppers, seeded and chopped*
4 Tbsp Cilantro, finely chopped
2 lbs Manioc/Cassava/Yuca Root, peeled, boiled and mashed
2 cups Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
4 cups Coconut Milk

Shrimp:
4 lbs Medium or Large Shrimp, peeled, deheaded and deveined, with tails left on
1 clove Garlic, minced
1 Tbsp Salt

1 Tbsp Pepper
2 Tbsp Cilantro, finely chopped
3 medium Tomatoes, seeded and chopped
3 medium Onions, chopped
1 Green Bell Pepper, seeded and chopped*
1/2 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
4 cups Coconut Milk

2 Tbsp Dendê Oil**

*Green Bell Pepper will give you a more authentic taste, however, I hate Green Bell Peppers! I used Orange and Red Bell Peppers instead.

**You have to have the Dendê Oil for a true experience. It's palm oil that's orange and semi-solid at room temperature. Look for it in African or Latin American food markets.

***Serve this up with rice. Have the rice cooking in the background while you make the main dish. This dish serves 8 and takes about half an hour to cook and another half an hour to prep--peeling those pesky shrimp accounts for most of that prep time.

Prepare the manioc cream: In a large heavy saucepan, combine the onion, tomatoes, bell pepper and cilantro with the mashed manioc. Stir in the olive oil and coconut milk, then heat over medium-high heat, stirring constantly. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring constantly, or until the cream begins to pull away from the bottom of the pan when you stir. Remove from the heat and reserve.

Prepare the shrimp: Rinse the shrimp well in plenty of cold running water. Drain. In a large, deep saucepan combine the drained shrimp, minced garlic, salt, pepper, cilantro, tomatoes, onions, bell pepper and the olive oil. Heat over medium high heat, stirring frequently. When hot, add the coconut milk in 1/2 cup amounts, stirring after each addition to completely mix. Continue to cook for 5 minutes more, stirring constantly.

Add the reserved manioc puree to the shrimp and continue to cook for 5 more minutes, stirring frequently. Just before removing from the heat, add the dendê oil and mix it in completely. Remove from heat, pour into a deep serving bowl, sprinkle with additional cilantro, and serve immediately.