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Brazilian Shrimp and Cassava Sauce

A creamy shrimp stew with cassava, coconut milk, and palm oil.

From the Wikibooks Cookbook · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Onion and garlic match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 29,058 recipes. Both carry furaneol, which smells caramel, strawberry. The science ↓

Brazilian Shrimp and Cassava Sauce

Time15 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the manioc

  1. Peel and cut the manioc.

  2. Put the manioc in a pan with cold water and salt, and cook until tender.

  3. Drain and reserve both the cooked manioc and the liquid.

  4. Discard any manioc fiber.

  5. Mash the manioc while still hot, using some of the liquid to help. Do not use a blender or food processor.

Make the stew

  1. Peel and de-vein the shrimp.

  2. Sauté the onion and garlic in the olive oil until wilted.

  3. Add half of the chopped cilantro and the tomatoes, stirring well.

  4. Add the shrimp, and cook it for about 15 minutes.

  5. Add the puréed manioc.

  6. Check the amount of liquid and add more of the reserved manioc liquid to thin the mixture, if necessary.

  7. Add the coconut milk, the remaining cilantro and the palm oil.

  8. Check for salt and pepper.

Serve

  1. Serve over Brazilian white rice.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

578Calories
30 gProtein
41 gFat
28 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 9 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Coconut1/2 cup shredded (40g)283
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Shrimp100g cooked99
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Cilantro1 tbsp chopped fresh (1g)1
Salt1 tsp (6g)0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Wikibooks Cookbook.

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together29,058 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  2. Olive + tomatotop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,539 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

  3. Garlic + olivetop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together25,665 recipes

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

  4. Garlic + tomatotop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together14,076 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  5. Olive + coconuttop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,672 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Manioc root
Cooks down and mashes into a thick, starchy base that gives the stew its body.
Shrimp
Provides the main protein and savory flavor of the stew.
Coconut milk
Adds richness and fat, giving the stew a creamy, mellow texture.
Tomatoes
Add moisture and acidity that brighten the flavor of the stew.
Onion
Builds a sweet, savory base when softened in oil.
Palm oil
Adds fat and a distinctive color and aroma to the finished stew.

The step that matters

Mash the manioc while hot, without a blender. Hot manioc mashes into a smooth, cohesive purée. Cooled or blended manioc can turn gluey or stringy, so the texture of the whole stew depends on this step.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (shrimp, onion, garlic, olive, tomato, coconut, milk):

  1. Corianderfits better
  2. Cuminfits better
  3. Basilfits better
  4. Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against shrimp, onion, garlic, olive, tomato, coconut, milk. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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