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Maniçoba
Maniçoba: Belém's dark stew of long-cooked ground manioc leaves with smoked and salted pork and beef
Black-green, smoky and rich, maniçoba is the dish Belém cooks for the Círio de Nazaré in October, when families gather after the great procession, and it is sold all year at the Ver-o-Peso market. Its base is maniva, ground manioc leaves, which contain natural cyanide and must be cooked for days before they are safe; in Pará cooks simmer it for up to a week. Never use raw or home-ground manioc leaves for this dish. Buy only ready-cooked ground maniva (sold frozen in Brazilian shops and labelled pre-cooked), and follow the pack's further cooking time if it is longer than ours. The leaves are then simmered for hours with the cuts of a feijoada: salted pork ribs, smoked bacon, smoked pork sausage, beef jerky and pig's trotter, until the meat falls apart into a thick, smoky, faintly bitter stew. Serve it with white rice, farinha d'água and pimenta-de-cheiro. Plan ahead: the salted meats need soaking overnight. The usual mistake is adding the meat too early, so it disintegrates. Chef's tip: maniçoba tastes even better reheated the next day.
- Total time
- 460 min
- Difficulty
- hard
- Serves
- 10
Ingredients
For the maniva
For the meats
To serve
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Method
0/8 doneStep 1: Soak 1 ⅛ lb salted pork ribs, 1 salted pig's trotter and 14 oz carne seca (dried salted beef) overnight in cold water in the fridge, changing the water 3 times, to draw out the salt.
Step 2: Thaw 3 ⅓ lb ready-cooked ground maniva (manioc leaves) in the fridge. Put it in a very large, heavy pot with 3 litres water, 4 bay leaves, 1 head garlic and 2 onions and bring to the boil.
Step 3: Simmer on a low heat, partly covered, for 4 hours, stirring every 15–20 minutes and scraping the bottom, adding hot water whenever it gets thick so it never catches. It will turn very dark green and soft.
240 minStep 4: Meanwhile, drain the soaked meats, cover with fresh water in another pan, bring to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Drain and discard the water.
15 minStep 5: Add the ribs, trotter and dried beef to the maniva and simmer for 1 hour, stirring regularly.
60 minStep 6: Fry 10 ½ oz smoked bacon, 10 ½ oz smoked pork sausage (paio) and 10 ½ oz smoked calabresa sausage in a dry pan on a medium heat for 8 minutes until the fat runs and the edges brown, then add them to the pot.
8 minStep 7: Simmer for 1 more hour, stirring, until all the meat is very tender, the pork is cooked through (well over 160°F) and the stew is thick enough to hold a spoon upright. Remove the trotter bones and bay leaves.
60 minStep 8: Taste: it rarely needs salt. Serve hot with white rice, 7 oz farinha d'água (coarse cassava flour) and 4 pimenta-de-cheiro or other mild chilli.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 620 kcal
- Protein
- 42 g
- Carbs
- 14 g
- Fat
- 44 g
- Fibre
- 8 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does maniçoba take?
- About 460 minutes in total: 40 minutes to prepare and 420 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 10 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- What can I use instead of bay leaves?
- Leave it out, or a pinch of dried thyme (it's a background flavour).
- What can I use instead of garlic?
- ½ tsp garlic paste or ⅛ tsp garlic powder per clove.
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