Recipe of The Week
Halloween! Brazilian Shrimp Stew in A Pumpkin - Camarão na Moranga
by The Well Seasoned Traveler
The largest Japanese population outside Japan lives in Brazil. Immigration that began in 1908, had a well-established class within Brazilian society by 1940. To this day, Japanese culture and especially its gastronomy has had an influence on Brazilian food and culture. By the end of World War II, Japanese-Brazilian separatists who refused to accept the news of the emperor’s surrender, formed a terrorist organization called Shindo Renmei, with the purpose of “punishing” (murdering) “traitors” who accepted the fact that Japan had lost the war. For this, they were imprisoned at an island penitentiary. As they got abdominal parasites while in captivity, this Japanese group started planting pumpkins to use the toasted seeds as a remedy.
Their pumpkins became popular in the coastal towns near the island, where João Glorioso a local merchant with his boat served as a middleman buying from the prisoners and selling to the population. Legend has it that a pumpkin fallen off the boat was invaded by shrimp, and floated to the nearby beach town of Beritoga, where it was found washed on the beach by a woman who put it to the fire, and that is how this dish was born.
History and legends aside, this is a delicious dish we will prepare as October is in the air and pumpkin patches are sprouting all over. It is basically a creamy cheesy shrimp stew served inside a baked pumpkin. Brazilians call it Camarão na Moranga “shrimp in the pumpkin”. It is fairly easy to prepare and highly addictive, so make it at your own risk.
INGREDIENTS (get your ingredients here)https://farmersmarketdropoff.com/colle.../recipe-of-the-week
1 table sized pumpkin (make sure it fits in your oven)
1 cup good grade olive oil
2lb fresh shrimp
2 onions finely chopped
4 cloves of garlic finely chopped
8oz softened cream cheese
4 vine-ripened tomatoes peeled and finely chopped
1 cup of corn starch and water slush for thickening
1 quart of unsweetened coconut cream
1 quart of unsweetened coconut milk
1 teaspoon ground pumpkin pie spice (more if you like the flavor)
1 bunch cilantro finely chopped
Lime for seasoning
Salt and pepper
METHOD
PREPARING THE PUMPKIN
Wash and dry the pumpkin
Cut the top and remove all the fibers and seeds from the inside until you have a smooth surface
Rub the inside of the pumpkin with olive oil and some salt
Wrap the pumpkin in aluminum foil and bake at 350 Fahrenheit for about 45 minutes, or until pumpkin is starting to soften but not collapsing
Remove from oven and reserve
PREPARING THE STEW
Clean and devein shrimp
Peel and chop the tomatoes
Chop the onion and garlic
Pour about a tablespoon of olive oil into the pan
Drop-in your chopped tomatoes and stir fry until they become a paste and caramelize
Add the onions and keep stirring until it all integrates
Add the garlic
Salt and pepper to taste stirring constantly
Add the coconut cream and the pumpkin pie spice
Let it boil gently over low heat for fifteen minutes
Add coconut milk to reach the volume you need for your meal
Add the thickening slush carefully to reach the desired thickness. It should be creamy but not too dense. It should coat the back of a spoon
Add the shrimp, correct the salt, pepper, and spices, cook five minutes over low heat until everything is homogeneous
Take off the heat. You do not want the shrimp to overcook
ASSEMBLING THE DISH
Rub the inside of the pumpkin with the soft cream cheese
Pour the stew inside
Sprinkle some chopped cilantro and lime juice on top and serve
Place remaining chopped cilantro at the table for individual helpings
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