Boas Comidas

Glossário Culinário

Xinxim

Prato

Origem
Bahia, Brazil
Também chamado de
Chicken xinxim

Xinxim is a stew from Bahian cuisine made with free-range chicken slowly cooked in a sauce of peanuts, cashews, dried shrimp, coconut milk, dendê palm oil, onion, garlic, ginger and cilantro. It is a celebration dish, served piping hot with white rice, farofa and chili pepper.

Characteristics

Xinxim has a thick sauce, reddened by the dendê oil and dotted with dried shrimp. The chicken, cooked for a long time, turns tender and absorbs the seasoning. Its main hallmarks are:

  • Protein: traditionally free-range chicken in pieces, with skin and bone, which give more flavor to the broth.
  • Sauce base: roasted peanuts and ground cashews, which thicken and sweeten the dish.
  • Bahian touch: dendê oil, coconut milk and dried shrimp, the same trio as vatapá and caruru.
  • Seasoning: onion, garlic, ginger, cilantro and chili pepper, with lemon to finish in some households.

Uses in the kitchen

Xinxim is a main course at family lunches, religious feasts and Bahian street-food trays, alongside vatapá, caruru and moqueca. It goes with fluffy white rice, cassava farofa and vinaigrette. Leftover sauce makes a great pirão: just thicken it with cassava flour over low heat. It can also fill savory pies and tarts or accompany corn couscous.

Variations

The most famous version is chicken xinxim, but there are guinea-fowl, duck and even fish xinxim in some regions. Those who cannot find free-range chicken can use regular chicken, reducing the cooking time. There are adaptations with thinner homemade coconut milk for a lighter sauce and versions without dried shrimp for those with restrictions, doubling down on peanuts and cashews to keep the body.

Fun facts

Xinxim, vatapá, caruru and moqueca form the classic quartet of Afro-Bahian cooking and are usually served together at street festivals. The dish has African origins and was adapted to Brazilian ingredients such as peanuts and cashews. Because it is a long-cooked stew, the flavor deepens overnight: many people swear reheated xinxim tastes even better.

Recipes with xinxim

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