Savory paçoca here is shredded sun-dried salted beef (carne de sol) pounded with dry cassava flour (farinha de mandioca). That flour is a dry meal from a Brazilian market, not tapioca starch. It is northeastern. An arrumadinho is a composed plate that lines this mound up with rice, sauce, and a skewer. It is not the sweet peanut candy also called paçoca. Make the meat first: how to make sun-dried salted beef (carne de sol). Or buy a pack at a Latin or Brazilian market. Leftover grilled steak works if you have no carne de sol.
At a glance
- Region: Nordeste
- About 6 sides
- Shredded carne de sol and farinha, dry and sandy
- 5 to 8 minutes in the pan after the meat is cooked
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Ingredients (about 6 sides)
- 1 lb (450 g) carne de sol, soaked if it is very salty, then shredded, or leftover grilled steak if you cannot buy carne de sol
- 1 small onion, minced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons (30 g) unsalted butter, or bottled Brazilian butter (manteiga de garrafa) if you have it
- 1 1/2 cups (180 g) farinha de mandioca
Method
- Soak the meat 2 to 4 hours if a raw sliver is inedibly salty, changing the water once. Dry it.
- Cook it in a dry pan or on the grate until it shreds.
- In a skillet, melt the butter. Cook the onion and garlic until soft. Add the meat, then the farinha.
- Stir on low until the flour smells toasted and the mix is dry and sandy, 5 to 8 minutes. A mortar (pilão) is traditional. A heavy pot and a wooden spoon is the home version.
How you know it is done
The mix is dry and sandy, not wet and not a paste. Taste before you add salt. The meat is already salted.
When it goes on the table
Serve in a mound next to Brazilian tomato-onion sauce (vinagrete) and the skewer.
What to buy
Dry cassava flour, not tapioca starch. One bag covers this paçoca, farofa, and the noodles. The usual mid is the bag to open first.
- Low: Yoki farinha de mandioca — real cassava flour, not tapioca starch, and a bag you can actually find.
- Usual mid: Amafil farinha de mandioca — the usual mid when the Brazilian market has it.
- High: Amafil or Yoki farinha de mandioca torrada from a Brazilian grocer — the toasted bag if they stock it, not a luxury brand invented for this page.
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