Ingredients
Seafood
- 1whole snapper or grouper, cleaned and cut into steaks
- 500 gcrab, in pieces
- 400 gprawns, shell on
- 300 gconch or squid, optional
Coconut
- 1.5 litresthick coconut milk, from 3 fresh coconuts if possible
Vegetables
- 2green plantains, in thick rounds
- 1ripe plantain
- 500 gcassava, in chunks
- 2corn cobs, in rounds
- 1sweet potato, optional
Seasoning
- 2onions, sliced
- 1red pepper
- 6 clovesgarlic
- 3tomatoes
- 1 bunchculantro
- 2 tspground achiote
- 1whole habanero
- 1 tspblack pepper
- salt
To serve
- white rice
- lime wedges
- hot sauce
Directions
- Grate the coconut flesh, cover it with warm water, squeeze it hard through a cloth, and repeat for a second thinner extraction. Keep the first thick extraction separate from the second thinner one, because they go into the pot at different stages. Now the golden rule with coconut milk.
- Start with the sliced onion, garlic, pepper and tomato in the base with the achiote. The pot cooks from below, so the layering is doing the timing for you and nothing needs stirring.
- Peel the cassava thickly and cut out the woody central fibre. Now pour over the thinner second coconut extraction, to about halfway up. Add the whole habanero, unbroken, and the culantro. Lift it out carefully before serving and do not let it burst. Cover the pot and simmer gently for 25 minutes.
- Put the crab and conch on first, then the fish steaks, then the prawns last. The seafood steams on top of the vegetables rather than being submerged, which is what keeps it from breaking up.
- Season well and cover the pot again. Simmer gently for a further 15 to 20 minutes. Do not stir at any point. Shake the pot gently by the handles if you need to move things. It is done when the fish flakes, the prawns are pink and the cassava is completely tender.
- Taste the broth and season it properly. It should be rich, sweet from the coconut and plantain, and savoury from the seafood, with the culantro clearly present.
- Serve it in wide deep bowls, spooning up from the bottom so each portion gets vegetables, seafood and plenty of broth. Serve white rice alongside and lime wedges.
Technique
- Tapado is specifically Garifuna and is made along the Caribbean coast of Central America.
- Fresh coconut milk is noticeably better than tinned here.
- Culantro is the long-leafed herb and is not the same as coriander, though coriander is the usual substitute.
Substitutions
- Tinned coconut milk, using the thick part first.
- Any firm white fish, and prawns alone if crab is unavailable.
Variations
- Made with fish alone.
- With more cassava and less seafood.
- The Guatemalan and Belizean versions, which are very similar.
History
Garifuna coconut milk seafood and plantain stew of the Caribbean coast, cooked in one pot with whole fish, crab and cassava.
Frequently asked questions
What is Tapado?
Tapado is a soup & stew from Honduras: coconut seafood-and-plantain stew of the north coast. Garifuna coconut milk seafood and plantain stew of the Caribbean coast, cooked in one pot with whole fish, crab and cassava.
How long does Tapado take to make?
Tapado takes 40 min of preparation and 1 hr of cooking. The recipe makes 6 servings. It is rated medium to make.
What can I substitute in Tapado?
Yes, within limits. Tinned coconut milk, using the thick part first. Any firm white fish, and prawns alone if crab is unavailable.
What is the most important thing to get right in Tapado?
Peel the cassava thickly and cut out the woody central fibre. Now pour over the thinner second coconut extraction, to about halfway up. Add the whole habanero, unbroken, and the culantro. Lift it out carefully before serving and do not let it burst. Cover the pot and simmer gently for 25 minutes.
