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Tapado garífuna
Tapado: Garifuna seafood stew with coconut milk and plantain
Livingston in Guatemala, Dangriga in Belize and Trujillo in Honduras all cook tapado, the Garifuna seafood stew where fish steaks, prawns and sometimes crab simmer in coconut milk with green and ripe plantain, basil and culantro. It is creamy, a little sweet from the ripe plantain, and fragrant with herbs, best eaten from a wide bowl with rice or pan de coco. Use raw prawns that smell of the sea and fish with bright flesh; if you add crab, buy cleaned raw crab pieces from the fishmonger. The common mistake is adding the fish too early, so it breaks into shreds; it goes in for the last few minutes only. Chef's tip: mash one cooked piece of green plantain into the broth to thicken it, the way Garifuna cooks do.
- Total time
- 65 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 6
Ingredients
For the seafood
- 1 ¾ lb firm white fish steakssuch as snapper or kingfish, cut into large chunks
- 10 ½ oz raw shell-on prawnsdeveined
- 2 limesjuiced
- 1 tsp saltdivided
For the stew
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 onionchopped
- 1 green pepperchopped
- 4 cloves garliccrushed
- 2 tomatoeschopped
- 1 tsp ground annatto (achiote)
- 2 green plantainspeeled, cut into 4 cm pieces
- 1 ripe plantainpeeled, cut into 4 cm pieces
- 3 ¼ cups coconut milk
- 2 cups fish stock or water
- ⅓ oz fresh basilleaves torn
- ⅔ oz culantro or fresh corianderchopped
- 1 scotch bonnet pepper (optional)left whole
- ½ tsp black pepper
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Method
0/6 doneStep 1: Toss 1 ¾ lb firm white fish steaks and 10 ½ oz raw shell-on prawns with 2 limes and half of ½ tsp salt. Keep in the fridge while you start the stew.
Step 2: Warm 1 tbsp vegetable oil in a wide pot over a medium heat and soften 1 onion, 1 green pepper and 4 cloves garlic for 6 minutes. Add 2 tomatoes and 1 tsp ground annatto (achiote) and cook for 4 minutes.
10 minStep 3: Add 2 green plantains, 3 ¼ cups coconut milk and 2 cups fish stock or water. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook for 15 minutes, until the plantain is tender.
15 minStep 4: Lift out one piece of plantain, mash it and stir it back in. Add 1 ripe plantain, 1 scotch bonnet pepper, ½ tsp black pepper and the rest of ½ tsp salt and simmer for 8 minutes more. Keep the bubbles gentle so the coconut milk doesn't split.
8 minStep 5: Slip in the fish and simmer for 4 minutes, then add the prawns and cook for 3–4 minutes more, until the prawns are pink all over and the fish is opaque and flakes when pressed.
8 minStep 6: Remove the whole pepper, stir in ⅓ oz fresh basil and ⅔ oz culantro or fresh coriander, and serve at once with rice or pan de coco.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 520 kcal
- Protein
- 38 g
- Carbs
- 36 g
- Fat
- 26 g
- Fibre
- 4 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does tapado garífuna take?
- About 65 minutes in total: 25 minutes to prepare and 40 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 6 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 limes?
- Lemon, same amount.
- What can I use instead of onion?
- 2 shallots per onion.
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