Bobó de Camarão
Bobó de camarão belongs to the same Afro-Bahian culinary family as moqueca and vatapá, built on cassava, coconut milk and dendê oil rather than the wheat-based thickeners of Portuguese cooking. Cassava was already a staple crop of Brazil's indigenous peoples long before colonization, and enslaved West African cooks folded it into the coconut-and-palm-oil cooking style they were recreating in Bahia, producing a stew that belongs to no single one of its source cultures alone. The name bobó likely comes from a Yoruba or Fon word describing a mashed or pureed dish, reflecting the cassava base that gives the stew its body long before the shrimp go in. It remains most closely associated with Bahia, where home cooks make it for festas juninas, the June harvest festivals, and it travels well beyond the state today as one of the more approachable entry points into Bahian cooking for people unfamiliar with dendê oil's assertive flavor.
Cassava replaces the roux
Part mashed smooth, part left in chunks, the cassava itself thickens the stew — no flour or cornstarch needed.
Shrimp goes in last
Added only in the final five minutes, the shrimp stays tender and never turns rubbery from overcooking.
A Bahian dendê base
The same red palm oil and coconut milk that colour moqueca and vatapá give bobó its deep orange hue and West African roots.
A specialty of Bahian celebrations
Bobó de camarão is a staple of festas juninas and family gatherings across Bahia, often served straight from the pot.
Ingredients 4 servings
- 1kg cassava (manioc), peeled and chopped
- 500g medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 400ml coconut milk
- 2 tbsp dendê (red palm) oil
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 2 tomatoes, chopped
- 2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
How to make it
- 1Boil the cassava chunks in salted water for 20 to 25 minutes until completely tender, then drain, reserving a cup of the cooking liquid.
- 2Mash about two-thirds of the cassava with a fork or blend it smooth with a little coconut milk, keeping the rest in chunks for texture.
- 3Heat the dendê oil in a large pan and sauté the onion, garlic and bell pepper for five minutes until softened.
- 4Add the chopped tomatoes and cook until they break down into a thick sauce, about eight minutes.
- 5Stir in the mashed cassava, the remaining chunks and the coconut milk, thinning with the reserved cooking liquid if the mixture is too dense.
- 6Simmer for ten minutes, stirring occasionally, then add the shrimp and cook for another five minutes until they turn pink and opaque.
- 7Finish with the chopped cilantro and adjust the salt before serving hot with white rice.
Nutritional info
per serving (~350 g)
Estimated nutritional values.
Pairs perfectly with
