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Tacacá is the hot, sour, tingling soup that Belém lines up for every afternoon, served in a dark gourd bowl called a cuia. Yellow tucupi broth is ladled over dried shrimp and jambu leaves, which make your lips gently buzz and tingle. This keto version leaves out the tapioca starch and keeps everything else that makes it unforgettable.
Per serving: 84 calories · 4.9 g net carbs · 13 g protein · 1 g fat (calculated from the ingredients)
What You’ll Need
Ingredients
- 3 1/2 cups prepared (cooked) tucupi
- 3 garlic cloves crushed
- 1 bunch culantro or cilantro chopped
- 2 or 3 pimenta de cheiro or other mild sweet peppers chopped
- 3 ounces dried salted shrimp rinsed
- 1 large bunch jambu leaves and flowers (or watercress) tough stems removed
- 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum (optional for body)
- Salt and hot pepper to taste
Instructions
- Pour the tucupi into a pot with the garlic, culantro and peppers. Bring to a boil, then simmer gently for 20 minutes. Taste and add salt if needed.
- Meanwhile, put the dried shrimp in a small pan of water, bring to a boil and drain. Repeat once if they still taste very salty.
- Bring another pot of salted water to a boil and blanch the jambu for 2 to 3 minutes until tender. Drain.
- If using xanthan gum, sprinkle it over the simmering tucupi while whisking hard, so the broth gains a light, silky body.
- Divide the jambu and shrimp among bowls or cuias. Ladle the boiling hot tucupi over the top and serve right away, with hot pepper on the side.
Notes
Nutrition
About This Dish
Tacacá has Indigenous roots, and it is one of the signature foods of Belém and the wider Amazon region. It is traditionally sold in the late afternoon by women known as tacacazeiras, from stalls set up on street corners. The soup is served in a cuia, a bowl made from the dried shell of a gourd-like fruit, set in a small woven basket. Jambu contains a natural compound called spilanthol, which causes the tingling, slightly numbing feeling in the mouth. Tucupi itself is the yellow liquid extracted from grated bitter cassava and then cooked for a long time to make it safe.
This recipe is from The Ultimate Brazilian Keto Cookbook by Gisele Costello, Chapter 3: Soups & Stews (Ver-o-Peso Market). See all Brazilian recipes