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Pupunha cozida
Pupunha cozida: Amazon peach-palm fruits boiled in salted water, eaten with morning coffee
From Belém to Manaus, the breakfast table in pupunha season (roughly December to April) holds a bowl of these orange and red palm fruits, boiled in salted water and peeled at the table. Their flesh is dense, starchy and slightly oily, somewhere between chestnut, sweet potato and egg yolk, and it is eaten with black coffee or café com leite, sometimes with a smear of butter or a drizzle of honey. Street sellers and markets sell them cooked in bunches. Look for fresh or frozen pupunha (chontaduro) in Brazilian and Colombian shops. The fruit must be cooked; raw it irritates the mouth. The common misstep is cooking it too briefly, which leaves the flesh hard and astringent; it needs a long boil until a knife meets no resistance. Chef's tip: cook more than you need and slice the leftovers into salads or fry them in oil like chips the next day.
- Total time
- 55 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 6
Ingredients
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Method
0/4 doneStep 1: Pull 2 ¼ lb fresh pupunha (peach-palm) fruits off the bunch if needed, discard any split or mouldy fruits and rinse well.
Step 2: Put the fruits in a large pan with 10 ½ cups water and 1 tbsp salt. Bring to the boil over a high heat.
8 minStep 3: Cover partly and simmer for 40–50 minutes, topping up with boiling water so they stay covered, until a knife slides into the thickest fruit with no resistance and the skins start to split.
45 minStep 4: Drain and leave until cool enough to handle. Peel off the thin skin with your fingers, halve the fruits and pick out the stone. Serve warm with coffee.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 190 kcal
- Protein
- 2 g
- Carbs
- 30 g
- Fat
- 7 g
- Fibre
- 4 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does pupunha cozida take?
- About 55 minutes in total: 5 minutes to prepare and 50 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 6 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegan?
- Yes. It has no meat, fish, dairy or eggs.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
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