Shrimp Bobó (Bobó de Camarão)
This dish is another gem of Bahian cooking tradition. It is a shrimp stew cooked in thick sauce of manioc root. It contains all the typical ingredients of Bahian cuisine: palm oil, coconut cream, manioc. It tastes, smells and looks delicious.
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700g (1 lbs 11 oz) shrimp in shell
500g (1 lbs 4 oz) manioc root
1 lime
2 tbsps. butter
3 cloves garlic
2 medium white onions
½ green bell pepper
½ red bell pepper
1 cup coconut cream
3 medium ripe tomatoes
4 tbsps. palm oil
2 tbsps. coriander leaves (cilantro)
2 tbsps. parsley
salt
pepper
Preparation time: 1 hr.
Difficulty level: Easy-Medium
Servings: 10
Special equipment: Food processor
Ingredients
Preparation
Marinade the shrimps:
Clean the shrimps and save the shells and heads.
Put the shrimps in a bowl, squeeze the lime, add some salt, mix and keep refrigerated.
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Prepare the manioc sauce:
Dice the onion, slice the garlic, finely chop the coriander leaves and the parsley.
Peel the manioc roots and cut them into large pieces.
In a sauce pan heat up some olive oil. Sauté 1 tbsp. onion until translucent, add 1/3 of the garlic and sauté 1 minute more.
Add the shrimp shells and the manioc roots, cover with water, add salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Cover with a lid and simmer over medium heat until the root is tender.
Discard the shells, put the root in a food processor with some of the liquid and process until you get pale thick sauce.
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Prepare the shrimp stew:
Peel, deseed and dice the tomatoes. Dice the bell peppers as well.
In a large skillet melt the butter over medium heat. Put in the shrimps and sauté for 4-5 minutes, then put aside.
Add some olive oil to the skillet. Sauté the rest of the onions until translucent, then add the garlic and the peppers and sauté 1 minute more.
Add the diced tomatoes and cook 2 minutes more, constantly mixing.
Add the manioc sauce and mix well together. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover and let cook for 5 minutes.
Add the coconut cream and the palm oil and stir well, bring to a boil, mix in the shrimps and let cook for 2 minutes. Finally add parsley and coriander leaves and remove from heat.