Açorda de camarão – recipe

The word açorda in Portuguese may stand for slightly different dishes, but always involving old bread. While açorda alentejana refers to an aromatic stock poured over bread slices, açorda by itself stands for a savory mashed bread concoction with a porridge-like consistency.

Açorda, most typical from southern Portugal, is an edible example of how the presence of the Arabs in the Iberian Peninsula influenced our way of living and eating. 

Açorda can be topped with several ingredients, usually fish or seafood, and it’s always served with a raw egg yolk which you are meant to break and mix with the hot porridge right at the table, for added creaminess. Today, we share with you a quick and easy approach to make one of the most typical açordas, topped with shrimp.

Açorda de camarão – Ingredients for 4 servings:

800g old rustic bread (in Portugal, use pão alentejano)

600g medium size shrimp

150ml olive oil

3 garlic cloves

2 eggs

Handful of fresh coriander

Salt, pepper and chili flakes to taste

Recipe directions:

Cut the old bread into pieces and soak with warm water to soften. 

Meanwhile, heat a pan using 100ml olive oil to sauté the chopped garlic for 2 minutes. Add in the drained bread and mix until it soaks the olive oil and starts looking like a cohesive porridge. Season with salt, pepper and, if you like some heat, a little pinch of chili flakes.

Heat the remaining oil in a separate pan and sauté the shrimp, seasoning to taste. For a lighter version of this dish, boiled shrimp will also do. 

Chop the coriander, mix with the hot bread porridge and place it inside a serving bowl. Top with the shrimp and raw egg yolks (do not use the whites for this recipe). Right before digging in, mix the egg yolks into the porridge using a spoon, so that the mix becomes even smoother. The eggs will get slightly cooked by the heat of the bread, but not all the way through. 

If you don’t have shrimp but would still like to make Açorda, please remember that this bread porridge, just like Migas, can also be served as a side dish to any other protein you may be cooking.

Have you tried a traditional Portuguese recipe using old bread?

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