← Nouns Cooking · Brazilian & Peruvian

Ingredients

• 500 g cassava (yuca), fresh or frozen, peeled and cut into chunks
• 600 g large raw prawns, peeled and deveined
• 1 Lime, juiced
• 3 cloves Garlic, finely chopped
• 1 tsp salt, plus more to taste
• 2 tbsp Olive oil
• 1 Onion, chopped
• 1 red or yellow bell pepper, diced
• 2 Tomato, chopped
• 1 Red chilli, finely chopped
• 1 tsp Ginger, finely grated (optional)
• 400 ml Coconut milk
• 2 tbsp Dendê (red palm) oil
• 3 tbsp Coriander (cilantro), chopped
• 3 Spring onion, sliced

Method

1. Put the cassava in a pan of salted water, bring to the boil and simmer for 20–25 min, until very soft and starting to split. Drain, saving a mug of the water, and pull out the woody string from the centre of each piece.
2. Meanwhile, toss the prawns with the lime juice, a third of the garlic and the salt, and leave in the fridge for 15 min.
3. Blend the cassava with half the coconut milk and a splash of its cooking water to a smooth, thick purée.
4. Heat the olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Cook the onion and pepper for 6–8 min, until soft, then add the rest of the garlic, the tomatoes, chilli and ginger and cook for 5 min, until the tomatoes collapse.
5. Stir in the cassava purée, the remaining coconut milk and the dendê oil. Simmer gently for 5 min, stirring often so it doesn’t catch; loosen with more cassava water if it is thicker than porridge.
6. Add the prawns with their marinade and cook for 3–4 min, stirring, just until pink and curled. Stir in most of the herbs and taste for salt and lime.
7. Scatter with the rest of the herbs and serve with white rice and farofa.

Tips

• Never eat cassava raw: it must be fully boiled, and the tough central core removed. Frozen peeled cassava saves a lot of work.
• No dendê? Use a little extra olive oil with ½ tsp sweet paprika for colour; the flavour is milder.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

Brazilian Kitchen Abroad Easy and Delish