Ingredients
Meat
- 1.5 kggoat meat, on the bone
- 500 ggoat offal
- tripe, liver, heart
- juice of 3 limes
- coarse salt, for cleaning
The pot
- 3 litreswater
- 3onions, chopped
- 8garlic cloves, crushed
- 5cm ginger, grated
- 4tomatoes, chopped
- 3 tablespoonstomato paste
- 3stock cubes
- 4spring onions, sliced
- 3 sprigsthyme
- 2bay leaves
- 1 teaspoonblack pepper
Heat
- 3habanero peppers
- or 3 scotch bonnets
- keep one whole
Sometimes added
- 3potatoes, in chunks
- 2carrots, in chunks
- a handful of parsley
- a splash of oil
To serve
- plain rice
- or fufu or dumboy
- pepper sauce
- lime wedges
Directions
- Rub every piece with coarse salt. Squeeze lime juice over all of it. Work it in well with your hands. Let it sit for fifteen minutes. Rinse it in several changes of cold water. Cleaning the tripe takes more work. Rub it hard with salt and lime. Rinse it repeatedly until it smells clean. Cut it into strips afterwards. Tripe takes the longest of everything.
- Put the goat meat in a large pot. Add the cleaned tripe with it. Cover them with the cold water. Bring it up slowly to a simmer. Skim it off with a large spoon. Keep skimming until no more appears. That keeps the broth clean tasting.
- Add the chopped onions to the pot. Add the garlic and the ginger. Add the thyme and the bay leaves. Crumble in the stock cubes as well. Season it well with black pepper. Cover it over and let it simmer. Cooking it takes genuinely real time.
- Top up with hot water as it reduces. Never let it boil hard throughout. Add the chopped tomatoes to it. Stir the tomato paste in as well. Let it cook for twenty minutes. Liberian goat soup is genuinely hot. Adjust the quantity to what you can take.
- Add the potatoes and carrots if using them. Give them a good twenty minutes. Add the chopped heart with them. Adding the liver is done last of all. Cut the liver into small pieces. Add it for the last eight minutes only. Liver goes hard and grainy if overcooked.
- Taste it and adjust the salt now. It should be strongly seasoned and hot. Stir in the sliced spring onions. Add chopped parsley if you like. Let it stand covered for ten minutes. Serving it is done hot in deep bowls.
- Ladle broth, meat and offal into each. Make sure everyone gets some of each. Serve plain rice alongside the bowl. Put pepper sauce on the table. It keeps three days refrigerated.
Technique
- Several dishes are called Liberia’s national dish, including jollof rice, dumboy and palm butter, with no official designation; goat soup is one of the strongest candidates and is unquestionably a celebration dish.
- Offal goes in alongside the meat not as economy but because it gives depth and varied texture that muscle meat alone lacks.
- The parts cook at very different speeds: tripe and bone-in meat take two hours while liver needs only the last eight minutes, and overcooked liver goes hard and grainy.
Substitutions
- Lamb or mutton can replace goat, though the flavour is milder.
- The offal can be left out, though the soup is noticeably thinner for it.
Variations
- Some cooks add potato and carrot to the pot.
- A version made without offal is served to guests who prefer it.
- Pepper soup made the same way with fish is also common.
History
Served at Liberian celebrations and often named the national dish, cooked long so the meat falls off the bone.
Frequently asked questions
What is Goat soup?
Goat soup is a soup & stew from Liberia: peppery broth of goat meat and offal with hot pepper and seasoning. Served at Liberian celebrations and often named the national dish, cooked long so the meat falls off the bone.
How long does Goat soup take to make?
Goat soup takes 45 minutes of preparation and 2 hours 30 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes serves 8. It is rated medium to make.
What can I substitute in Goat soup?
Yes, within limits. Lamb or mutton can replace goat, though the flavour is milder. The offal can be left out, though the soup is noticeably thinner for it.
What is the most important thing to get right in Goat soup?
Top up with hot water as it reduces. Never let it boil hard throughout. Add the chopped tomatoes to it. Stir the tomato paste in as well. Let it cook for twenty minutes. Liberian goat soup is genuinely hot. Adjust the quantity to what you can take.
