Acarajé

Name: Acarajé
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 40 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Brazilian
Ingredients: 2 cups dried black-eyed peas, soaked overnight, skin removed; 1/2 white onion, finely minced; 2 green onion, finely chopped; 1/4 cup dried shrimp (ground); 1 tsp sea salt; 1/2 tsp black pepper; 4 cups vegetable oil (for frying); 1/2 cup peanut butter (smooth); 1 can coconut milk; 2 tbsp hot sauce (piri piri or similar)

Golden-fried black-eyed pea fritters served with spicy peanut sauce and hot sauce. A beloved Brazilian street food with crispy exterior and creamy interior.

40 minMediumServes 4280 cal/serving

BrazilianAppetizerStovetopStandard

Ingredients

2 cups dried black-eyed peas, soaked overnight, skin removed
1/2 white onion, finely minced
2 green onion, finely chopped
1/4 cup dried shrimp (ground)
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
4 cups vegetable oil (for frying)
1/2 cup peanut butter (smooth)
1 can coconut milk
2 tbsp hot sauce (piri piri or similar)

Instructions

1

After soaking overnight, drain 2 cups soaked overnight, skin removed dried black-eyed peas and rub between hands to remove as much skin as possible. Drain skins and pat peas dry.
2

Pulse drained peas in a food processor until finely ground but still slightly grainy, not smooth. Transfer to a bowl.
3

Fold in 1/2 finely minced white onion, 2 finely chopped green onion, 1/4 cup dried shrimp (ground), 1 tsp sea salt, and 1/2 tsp black pepper. Let batter rest 10 minutes.
4

Heat 4 cups vegetable oil (for frying) in a heavy pot to 350°F. Test with a small piece of batter; it should sizzle immediately.
5

Using an ice cream scoop or wet hands, gently lower golf-ball sized portions of batter into the hot oil. Fry 3-4 minutes, turning once, until deep golden brown.
6

Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Keep warm in a 200°F oven while frying remaining batches.
7

For the sauce: whisk together 1/2 cup peanut butter (smooth), 1 can coconut milk, and 2 tbsp hot sauce (piri piri or similar) until smooth.
8

Serve warm fritters with peanut coconut sauce on the side for dipping.

Questions

How long does Acarajé keep?

Refrigerate leftovers within two hours and eat them within three days. Reheat uncovered in a 400 F oven (or an air fryer) for a few minutes to bring the crust back; the microwave softens it.

Can I halve or double Acarajé?

Yes. As written it serves 4. Every ingredient in this entry carries precomputed half and double quantities, and the app's batch dial rewrites them inside each step. When doubling on the stovetop, use your widest pan or work in two batches so the food sears instead of steaming.

Serve it with

Vinagrete (Brazilian Tomato Onion Relish) sauce
Guarana Limeade Spritz drink
Caipirinha drink

Cook this free in the app

Textual Chef is a plain-text cooking reference of 4,481 recipes, free to read and cook from, with no account and no paywall. In the app, this entry scales itself: half, standard, or double batch, every quantity recomputed inside the step that uses it. No ads, no life stories, no photos of somebody else's dinner.

The entries are curated and public-domain sourced, written to a fixed template and checked against it: tested quantities, one closed vocabulary of methods, and precomputed half and double batches on every line. Nothing here is a scraped blog post.

Cook this free in the appNo download needed. It opens in your browser, instantly. The kitchen tools (planner, shopping list, pantry, import) are $5.33 a month billed annually, and the first 30 days are free.