Pirarucú, mirití, casabe, yarumo. Leonor Espinosa in Leo

The dish is based on the meat of the pirarucu, also called paiche in other regions. The Arapaima gigas is the giant of the Amazon basin. In the wild, it can weigh over 200 kilos and is covered in a tough, scaly shell. Its fatty and juicy meat is highly prized in the Amazon region.

Ingredients for pirarucu

100 grams of pirarucu fillet.
1 sheet of banana leaf.
1 pinch of salt.
1 small bamboo stick.

Ingredients for the marinade brine

100 ml of water.
10 g of salt.
1 clove of garlic.
2 black peppercorns.

Ingredients for the sauce

50 g of umari fruit.
50 g of dried fruit.
20g of soy sauce.
30g of brown sugar.
20 g of tucupi.
1 g of Amazonian chili powder.
200 ml of water.
10 g of salt.

Ingredients for cassava flakes

100 g of bitter cassava starch.

Preparation of cassava flakes

Heat a frying pan over medium heat and sift a handful of cassava starch onto it, forming a thin layer.
Press with your hands to homogenize until you obtain a consistency similar to that of an arepa.
Remove from heat and cut into portions.

Making the sauce

Put the miriti and umari fruits in a pot, along with water and salt.
Cook for 30 minutes or until reduced by 50%, stirring every five minutes.

minutes. Sift the mixture and set aside.

Add the remaining ingredients to the previous mixture and work with a whisk or hand blender.
Adjust the seasoning and set aside.

Fish preparation

Mix water, salt, and crushed garlic in a bowl and submerge the fish fillet for 10 minutes. Remove and pat dry with paper towels.
Place the steak on a piece of banana leaf. Add a spoonful of sauce and a pinch of salt.
Wrap the fish and close the wrapping with a toothpick.
Cook the steak on the grill for three minutes on each side, or until it reaches an internal temperature of 50 degrees.