“This dish was inspired by one of my favourite botecos in Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro – Adega Pérola – a seafood bar that’s been a local institution since 1956,” says FUSÃO author Ixta Belfrage. “This dish reimagines their Pérola Tropical – tropical pearl – which is a mix of prawns and plantain marinated in garlic-infused oil. This version is much more elaborate, but the flavours are unmatched. It’s a bit of a labour of love, but I promise it’s worth it. To make it more manageable, you can marinate the prawns, make the prawn head oil and pickle the shallots up to a day in advance. Serve straight away, as the plantain and prawns will harden as they cool.”
Prep Time
10-12 minutes
Cook Time
17 minutes
Servings
4
Method
1 Remove the heads and peel the shells from the prawns, keeping the tails on. Place theheads and shells in a frying pan off the heat. You should have about 260g of peeled, tail-onprawns. Slice down the back of the prawns to slightly butterfly them open, then devein them.
2 Place the peeled, tail-on prawns in a bowl with the chillies, 1 tablespoon of the olive oil, ½ teaspoon of fine sea salt and the urucum. Gently mix and set aside.
3 To make the prawn oil, add the tomato purée and 100g of olive oil to the pan of prawn heads and shells. Place on a high heat and stir-fry until the shells become bright pink, about 3½ minutes. Place a sieve over a bowl and spoon the prawn heads, shells and oil into the sieve. Press down on the heads to extract as much liquid and flavour as possible.
4 Put the sliced shallot into a separate bowl with the lime juice, vinegar and ½ teaspoon of fine sea salt. Mix and set aside.
5 Peel the plantains and cut into 2cm-thick rounds.6 Wipe the frying pan clean. Add the ghee to the pan and place on a very low heat. Once melted, add the plantain, spaced apart, and sprinkle over ¼ teaspoon of fine sea salt evenly. Cover with a lid and gently cook for 5 minutes, then flip the plantain and gently cook for another 5 minutes. You’re not trying to brown or fry the plantain slices, you want them to steam and soften, so keep the heat low.
7 Pour the ghee into the bowl of prawn oil and set the cooked plantain aside.
8 Wipe the frying pan clean and place on a high heat. Once very hot, add the prawns and chillies to the pan, spread out as much as possible and fry for 1½ minutes on each side.
9 Remove the pan from the heat, then add the ginger–garlic mix, the prawn head oil, the cooked plantain and the coriander stalks.
10 Finely slice 1 of the red chillies and 1 of the green chillies, put them back into the pan and gently mix everything together.
11 Transfer to a platter and top with some of the pickled shallots (you won’t need them all) and a sprinkling of urucum.
12 Drizzle over some of the shallot pickling liquid and serve with more fresh lime squeezed on top.
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Ixta is a fusion cook and cookbook author who takes inspiration from her Brazilian and English roots and Italian and Mexican influences. Recipe taken from FUSÃO: Untraditional recipes inspired by Brasil.
