Farofa is a traditional side dish of Brazilian cuisine whose main ingredient is cassava flour.
Have you ever been to a Brazilian churrasquería? I know they are becoming more popular outside South America.
The main attraction of a churrasquería is the meat. Delicious and amazing meat (drooling already ?)
But if you venture out and go to the buffet isle, you'll find a big cast-iron pot, bobbling with a hot, thick bean stew called feijoada.
And right next to the feijoada, you'll find this mysterious, brownish flour with little chunks of something. And that my friends, is farofa.
What is Farofa?
Farofa {fa'ɾɔfɐ} is toasted cassava flour with onions, red sausage or bacon, eggs, and even bananas or prunes.
It is a low-cost dish and very easy to prepare, not only goes well with feijoada, but with roasted chicken, breaded fish, and meats.
For this recipe, I chose the most common one. It has few ingredients and is done in 30 minutes.
Start by pan roasting half of the cassava flour (1 cup) and set it aside.
This recipe calls for butter and olive oil to fry bacon. Don't skip it! it makes it really delicious.
Once the bacon is nice and crispy, add onions and garlic and cook until golden brown (the house smells amazing!)
To this, add cassava flour (roasted and not roasted) and cook for a few more minutes.
To finish up, add fresh parsley.
Brazilian Farofa for Feijoada
Feijoada is another traditional Brazilian dish well known around the world. Cheap, easy to make and great for feeding crowds (ask all my visitors ?)
Farofa and feijoada go hand in hand.
I hope you try it for your next gathering!
If you liked the recipe above, please consider rating the recipe and leaving a comment below! and share your picture on Instagram with the hashtag #chipabythedozen
Recipe
Brazilian Farofa for Feijoada
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 125 g of bacon, cut into small pieces (4.45 oz)
- 1 medium onion, cut into slices
- 2 garlic cloves, diced
- 2 cups cassava flour (280g)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 bunch of parsley, chopped
Instructions
- In a large skillet, roast 1 cup of cassava flour on low heat. About 5 minutes, or until it is golden brown. Remove immediately and let cool on a plate.
- In the same pan, over medium heat, add butter, oil, and bacon. Cook until the bacon is crispy.
- Add the onion and garlic, and cook until the onion is golden brown.
- Add roasted cassava flour and the other cup of unroasted flour. Mix and cook over high heat.
- Stir constantly and cook for 3 minutes.
- If it needs salt, add ½ teaspoon.
- Add chopped parsley, mix and serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Nancy
My boyfriend absolutely loved this, Brazilian food is one of his favorites. He requested I make it for him again soon.
Bernice
Would you believe this Canadian has had farofa?! I had it at my local churrasquería. I must admit it wasn't my favourite as it was rather plain but your version looks much better. I'm also not sure if I understood how to eat it with the faijoada. Thanks for letting me know.
nancy
i've never used Farofa before. thanks for introducing me to this recipe. it was really tasty and wasn't too hard to find the ingredients
Jere Cassidy
I think I have had Farofa at a local restaurant, this just sounds like what they served us. I actually have cassava flour and all these ingredients. Definitely giving this a try.
Kayla DiMaggio
This brazilian farofa was so delicious! I have never tried this before but it was so delicious!
Lloyd
A friend invited us to dinner and is making Feijoada. I looked around, found your blog and decided to make this. I live in Hong Kong currently and might be tricky to find cassava flour but fingers crossed. That said, I've been to Brazil and had Feijoada. Loved it.
Lizet
I really hope you find it. Make sure is not cassava starch, it should be grainy.
Jenny B
I just found your site and it is very interesting. I have been wanting to try different foods from different cultures. The Feijoada and Farofa sound intriguing but how do you eat the Farofa - with a fork, place some on the stew and eat it with the stew.? Please enlighten me. Thanks
Lizet
I'm so glad you found our blog!
Sprinkle farofa on top of the stew. Once you have your plate served.
I actually like farofa by itself ?
I take a tablespoon and eat it like that.
It's not the traditional way of eating it, but very delicious.
I hope you try it!