Acarajé with shrimp vinaigrette

Name: Acarajé with shrimp vinaigrette
Total time: 1 h 30 min
Yield: 6 servings
Cuisine: Brazil
Ingredients: 500 g black-eyed peas, dried; 2 onions, one in chunks and one chopped; 1 tsp salt, plus more to taste; 2 tomatoes, chopped; 1 bunch cilantro, chopped; 1 red chili, seeded and chopped; 1 lime, juiced; 150 g dried shrimp, heads removed; 1 l red palm oil (dendê), for frying

Whipped black-eyed pea fritters fried in palm oil, split and filled with a dried shrimp vinaigrette. The peas soak overnight.

Time: 90 min
Difficulty: Advanced
Per serving: R$7.00
Servings: 6 servings

Acarajé split open and filled with vinaigrette and dried shrimp on a ceramic plate

Illustrative image

Ingredients

for 6 servings

500 gblack-eyed peasdried
2onionsone in chunks and one chopped
1 tspsaltplus more to taste
2tomatoeschopped
1 bunchcilantrochopped
1red chiliseeded and chopped
1limejuiced
150 gdried shrimpheads removed
REGIONAL SWAP
No dried shrimp?
Leave out the shrimp and serve with the vinaigrette alone; the acarajé becomes vegan
Changes the flavor a little
1 lred palm oil (dendê)for frying
REGIONAL SWAP
No red palm oil (dendê)?
1 l of sunflower oil with 3 tablespoons of palm oil; lighter, with a paler color
Brazilian or African grocery stores, or online
Changes the flavor a little

Tick what you already have so it stays off the list

Pocket Chef

Adapt it to what you have

The Pocket Chef swaps what is missing and rewrites only the steps that change.

Acarajé is the fritter sold by the baianas of Salvador, fried in palm oil at street stalls, and is recognized as part of Brazil's intangible heritage. The batter is just skinned black-eyed peas, onion and salt, beaten until airy. At home, serve it with the vatapá from this site and a dried shrimp vinaigrette.

Method

The day before, soak the peas in plenty of water for 12 hours.
2
- Rub the peas between your hands under the water to loosen the skins, which float.
- Pour off the skins and repeat until almost all the peas are white.
Grind the peas in a food processor with the onion chunks and the salt, with no water or as little as possible, into a thick paste.
4
- Beat the paste with a wooden spoon for 10 minutes, or with a stand mixer for 5 minutes, until paler and airy.
- That is what makes acarajé light inside.
For the vinaigrette, mix the tomatoes, chopped onion, cilantro and chili, season with the lime juice and salt, and stir in the dried shrimp.
6
- Heat the palm oil to 170 °C (340 °F) in a deep pot.
- Shape fritters with two tablespoons and fry 3 at a time, turning, for 6 minutes, until deep golden.
- Drain on paper towels.
7
- Split each acarajé open and fill it with the shrimp vinaigrette.
- In Bahia it also gets vatapá and caruru.

Tips

Do not skip beating the batter: without air, the fritters turn heavy and greasy. Take your time removing the skins, because they darken the batter.

Brazil · Bahia · per serving

Nutrients per serving

Calories

1,432 kcal

Protein

6 g

1% of kcal

Carbohydrate

17 g

5% of kcal

Fat

152 g

94% of kcal · fiber 8 g

Where the calories come from

protein1%
carbohydrate5%
fat94%

Pick a target per meal to compare the recipe. They are starting points, not individual advice.

By food

Nutrients of each food, per serving
Food	Qty.	kcal	Prot.	Share of calories
black-eyed peas	83 g	65	4.3 g	5%
onions	37 g	14	0.6 g	1%
salt	1 g	0	0 g	0%
tomatoes	41 g	6	0.5 g	0%
cilantro	8.3 g	2	0.2 g	0%
red chili	1.7 g	1	0 g	0%
lime	9.7 g	3	0.1 g	0%
red palm oil (dendê)	152 g	1,341	0 g	94%

Calculated with 8 of 9 ingredients. No data for: dried shrimp.

Source: TACO (Unicamp), editorial estimate, and USDA FoodData Central. Approximate values. Not medical or nutritional advice.

Acarajé with shrimp vinaigrette

Ingredients

Adapt it to what you have

Method

Tips

Nutrients per serving

By food

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