Ixta Belfrage’s moqueca fish burger recipe

Moqueca is a traditional Bahian seafood stew made with azeite de dendê (red palm fruit oil), bell peppers and coconut milk. This burger is inspired by it, with more than a few untraditional twists: the sauce is smooth rather than textured and is made from all the ingredients that would usually go into the stew,” says food writer Ixta Belfrage.

“I’ve added some spices (which are not Brazilian in origin but are nonetheless ubiquitous in Brazilian cuisine), and I’ve reimagined the dish as a burger (it’s traditionally served with rice and salad).

“This burger is intentionally saucy; I encourage you to serve it alongside a bowl of the sauce to dip your burger into as you go.”

Moqueca fish burger

Prep time: 5–10 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes
Marinade time: 30 minutes–1 hour
Rest time: 10 minutes

Ingredients
(Serves 4)

4 x 150g skinless fish fillets (hake, haddock or cod would all work well)
2tbsp olive oil
½tsp fine salt
4 brioche burger buns

For the moqueca sauce:
1 x 400g tin of full-fat coconut milk
150g sweet cherry tomatoes
1 red or yellow bell pepper, deseeded and quartered (170g)
½ a small brown onion, peeled and roughly chopped (50g)
3 small garlic cloves, peeled
1 Scotch bonnet chilli, deseeded (or a milder chilli if you prefer)
50g red palm oil (or use ghee or coconut oil plus 1tsp sweet paprika instead)
2tbsp runny honey (or maple/agave syrup)
1¼tsp fine sea salt
½tsp medium curry powder
¼tsp smoked paprika
¼tsp ground turmeric
About 50 twists of freshly cracked pepper

For the slaw:
180g green cabbage, thinly sliced on a mandolin
40g spring onion green ends, thinly sliced into rounds (use the whites in another recipe)
2 green chillies, thinly sliced into rounds (optional)
2tbsp kewpie mayo (or another mayo)
Juice of 1 lime, plus extra to serve
¾tsp fine sea salt

Method

1. Put the fish fillets into a 30cm x 23cm high-sided baking tray and season with the oil and salt. Mix to coat. Put all the ingredients for the moqueca sauce into a blender and blitz until completely smooth. Pour into the tray of fish and mix to coat all the fillets in sauce. Leave to marinate for 30 minutes to 1 hour at room temperature.

2. Preheat the oven to 240°C fan/260°C, or as high as your oven will go. Once the oven is hot, bake for 30 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbling and has reduced and thickened somewhat. Set aside to cool while you toast the buns.

3. Halve the buns and toast both sides in a very hot pan until golden brown. Mix all the ingredients for the slaw together. Place a fish fillet on the bottom of each bun and spoon over plenty of sauce. Top with a generous amount of slaw and the other half of the bun. Serve at once, with a bowl of sauce alongside to dip into and some extra lime.

FUSÃO by Ixta Belfrage is published in hardback by Ebury Press, priced £28. Photography by Kim Lightbody and Pedro Pinho. Available August 28.