Vatapá — Bahian Shrimp in Coconut-Peanut Cream

Ingredients

• 1¼ lb Shrimp, peeled
• 6 oz stale white bread, crusts off, torn
• 1½ cups whole milk
• 1 can (13 oz) coconut milk
• ½ cup roasted unsalted peanuts
• ⅓ cup cashews
• ⅓ cup dried shrimp
• 1 onion, roughly chopped
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 inch ginger
• 1 tomato, chopped
• 3 tbsp dendê (red palm) oil or 2 tbsp olive oil plus ½ tsp paprika
• ⅓ cup chopped cilantro
• 1 lime, juiced
• Salt and black pepper

Method

1. Soak the torn bread in the milk for 15 minutes until fully saturated, then squeeze it gently — you want it soft, not swimming.
2. Toast the peanuts, cashews, and dried shrimp in a dry pan for 3 minutes until fragrant, then grind them to a coarse meal in a food processor.
3. Blend the onion, garlic, ginger, tomato, soaked bread, and half the coconut milk into a smooth pale puree.
4. Pour the puree into a heavy pot with the ground nut mixture and remaining coconut milk and cook over low heat, stirring continuously with a wooden spoon for 20 minutes. It must never stop moving or the bread catches and scorches on the bottom.
5. It is ready when it pulls away from the sides of the pot in a single mass and a spoon leaves a track that holds. Stir in the dendê oil, which turns the whole thing a deep sunset orange.
6. Slide in the Shrimp and cook 4 minutes until just opaque. Finish with lime juice, cilantro, and salt, and serve with white rice and acarajé if you are going all the way.