As Kenyans, we really do enjoy having mbuzi (goat) at any and every huge occasion; or quite honestly, even at a small gathering of friends. Oh we have a wedding? Let us choma 10 goats! We have a graduation party? Goat ribs will definitely be part of the buffet! We are going to Lake Naivasha with a group of friends? You can bet on your life that that evening we will be chomaing some mbuzi! We love love love love mbuzi and it is one of my favorite red meats! I understand the hype!
We often have our goat as a choma (roast). However with ever expanding city life or when times the weather does not allow, we cannot always choma. This braised mbuzi recipe is one that will allow you to braise your ribs and enjoy them. It also allows you to choma if you so feel like. Either way you decide to swing, you will really and deeply enjoy this one! The marinade is out of this world good and paired with a chimichuri.. guys! You will fall inlove with this mbuzi recipe!
PREP TIME: 24hr COOK TIME: 4hr SERVES: 6
Ingredients
For the goat
1.5 – 1.6 kg of mbuzi (goat) ribs
1/2 green apple
1 bunch of fresh dania
1/4 cup of olive oil
1 bulb of roasted garlic (fresh garlic would be ok)
2 tablespoons of fresh rosemary
1/4 cup of soy sauce
1 tablespoon of cumin
1 tablespoon of smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon of pepper
Salt to taste
1/2 cup of beef stock
For the chimichuri
1/2 cup of very finely chopped dania
2 tablespoons of very finely chopped chives
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon of chili flakes
1/4 teaspoon of dried oregano
1 1/2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar
1/3 cup of olive oil
Method
Begin by prepping the goat for marination. The marination is the star of this dish and the flavor carrier. It is spicy, herby and mildly fruity as a result of the apple. The green apple adds a mild, soft tartness that goes so so so well with the flavor of the goat and without overpowering the taste of the other flavor. Make sure you use a green apple for this as a sweet apple may throw off other flavors.
First, prepare on the apple paste. We prepare a paste so that the apple flavor can be potent and allow it to be spreadable and for it to infuse into the meat. Begin by cube your apple, dice your dania and pop that into a food processor/ blender along with the olive oil and run until completely smooth.
It will become this gorgeous paste with the most hypnotic green hue.
Place the goat ribs into a container. I bought mine form carrefour but your local butcher can come thru as well.
Add in all the marination ingredients along with the green apple paste we have just made. I used roasted garlic for this, however fresh garlic would work just fine.
Mix until them in completely and once slathered and beautifully coated, let this marinate overnight or up to 48 hours, refrigetated.
Next day, we get cooking!
Now here is the juncture with which you are presented with two options: choma or braise. For a choma, Take the mbuzi out of your fridge and let it come to room temp then go right ahead and choma until done. It will take a few minutes- about 30 – however time will vary according to the thickness of your ribs.
For braising, which is what we did for this particular recipe, place the marinated mbuzi onto your lined tray, pour in the stock along with the juices that collected at the bottom of your marination container and allow this to braise for 3-4 hours at 150c until done. Braising of goat in particular takes quite abit of time, but at the end of the process, you shall be greeted by the most luscious fall off the bone mbuzi!
As the braising is going, prepare the chimichuri. Chimichuri is a South American cold sauce made to be paired with meats. I love it with beef, and for sure it would go so so well with mbuzi.
Finely chop the dania and the garlic (or blitz then in a food processor until fine). They must be very very very fine for you to ace this. Add those two – along with all the other chimichuri ingredients – into your bowl and mix. Once they are done, you are ready to go.
You can prep some in advance and let this sit in your fridge up to two weeks. I feel it tastes better as time goes by.
Once the mbuzi it done, whether you chose to choma or braise, plate it up and then serve it along with the chimichuri. We love to serve mbuzi with kachumbari (which is a timelss, heavenl pairing) but abit of change is ok and my green apple marinated mbuzi with chimichuri is one you will really love!
How perfect does this look?
The marination allowed the flavor of the mbuzi to really shine! The cumin and the chili tied together so well with the fullness of the apple and dania. The chimichuri elevated it all and it was bite after bite of sexy deliciousness!
I mean look at this?!?!?!
Does this look too good to be true? I invite you to watch the YouTube video and see how easy it is to put this together from start to finish. Do subscribe if you are yet to. I would love to have you!
Much love!
-Kaluhi
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Hey there! My name is Kaluhi and I love food! Through my blog, I am happy to share with you my self-taught recipes, steeped in nostalgia and the happiest of memories. I hope each recipe you try out is as addictive as the previous one and is shared on a table full of love and hearty laughs!
Now am hungry. Thanks a lot Kaluhi, this looks amazing. I will have to try it.
You will love it!
This recipe was out of this world! The ribs were so tender that they were falling off of the bone. Not to mention, that green apple flavor paired perfectly with the spices and veggies in this dish!
It really is stellar and glad you enjoyed it as much as I did!
Being from the Caribbean, I eat a lot of goat meat but usually just in curry. After a trip to the African market for the goat ribs, OMG this was so good. I definitely will be getting goat ribs every time I go to the African market from now on just so I can feast on these delicious ribs!
Fantastic!!! So happy to know you loved this and enjoyed it!
Goat is always available in Houston. The meat markets in my area often have them on sale. It wasn’t until this recipe that I had the courage to try them. This recipe changed my outlook on the versatility of goat. I will certainly be looking to try these again.
No goat in Italy…. wonder if it will work with lamb..? Doubt it
Going into withdrawal
Kaluhi I love your recipe so much.
My hubby has turned vegan during this pandemic and taken to raw food diet mostly. So I end up juicing tons of raw veggies, greens and fruits. It is delicious and healthy but I do crave meat some days.
I am not cooking as much meat as I used to. But, this dish looked so delicious. I bought those ribs and made it. The meat just fell off the bone and it was so tender and juicy.
Thank you so much for your warm compliment! A little break form the raw vegan life does the soul good and I am glad you picked this recipe! Even more happy you loved it so much!
As much as I love goat meat, you’d think I would’ve eaten the ribs before now! I’m SO glad this was my first recipe with them. It was perfectly tasty!
Happy your first recipe to ever try out was mine!!
As a fellow Kenyan I can tell you this is the best mbuzi recipe I have ever made! We had clean plates!
Clean plates are always a fantastic sign!
My Kenyan friend Neri made goat for me years ago so I was pleased I could finally try it on my own. It was outstanding!
So dope!
I love goat meat so this recipe was a must-try for me!! It was deliciously seasoned and had an amazing texture! Can’t wait to make it again!
You will love it next time too and each time after that Crystal!
I’ve never had goat this way before and I loved the sweet-sour combo of this paired with the herbaceous chimichurri.
This is super delicious! I will be doing it again.
Happy you loved it so much! That sweet-sour combo is a killer!
These are some of the best ribs we’ve ever tasted. This was our first time making goat ribs, and this will not be our last!
Yaaaaaaas girl!!! Thrilled to know you loved this recipe so much!
This was my first time trying goat ribs and I’m hooked! The green apple marinade made them so flavorful and the chimichurri was the perfect accompaniment.
The marinade was unexplainably good and glad you savored it too!!
Never would have though to use green apple. Delicious!
It is a perfect game-changer! I’ll def explore fruity marinades in the future.
My family LOVED this recipe! I honestly couldn’t get enough! The flavor combination is just out of this world!
When the whole fam loves it, you know that is a fantastic sign! Cheers to many more!
That chimichurri took these got ribs over the top! I’m so happy that I found a recipe, I will definitely be sharing this one with my extended family in the future.
Hope your family enjoy it as much as you did!