A northern Peruvian stew where tender goat arrives coated in a dark green, fragrant, velvety sauce. Chicha de jora, culantro, and loche build the deep flavor that makes the dish unmistakably northern from the first bite. Once the rice starts soaking up the sauce, saving a portion for tomorrow becomes a surprisingly difficult promise to keep.
Turn what you find into an experience you can actually bring to your kitchen.
Mix the goat with a little more than one third of the chicha de jora, one third of the garlic, one third of the ají panca paste, two fifths of the salt, the cumin, and black pepper. Cover and refrigerate for 40 minutes; use that time to prepare the rest of the dish.
Blend the culantro, seeded and deveined ají amarillo, and the remaining chicha de jora for 45 seconds, until you have a vivid green, pourable sauce. Finely chop the onion and grate the loche squash so it can melt into the stew later.
Heat a little more than half of the oil in a large pot. Shake off excess marinade from the goat and brown it in batches for 8 to 10 minutes, until it develops a deep brown crust on several sides; do not crowd the pieces or they will begin to steam. Remove the meat and leave the browned fond in the pot.
Reduce to medium heat, add the remaining oil, and cook the onion with the remaining garlic and another portion of the salt for 6 to 8 minutes, until very soft and just browned at the edges. Add the remaining ají panca paste and the loche squash; cook for another 4 to 5 minutes, stirring often, until the loche softens and the base looks glossy and concentrated.
Return the goat to the pot, add the green blend and one quarter of the water. Once it reaches a gentle simmer, cover and cook over low heat for 60 to 70 minutes, stirring once halfway through, until the meat is tender and yields easily when pierced. If the sauce is still loose at the end, uncover and cook for another 5 minutes, until it turns velvety and clings to the meat.
When the goat has about 25 minutes left, place the white rice in a medium pot with the remaining water and salt. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce to the lowest heat, and cook for 15 to 17 minutes, until the liquid is absorbed and the grains are tender but separate; turn off the heat and rest covered for 5 minutes. Serve the goat with plenty of sauce alongside the rice. If the meat nearly pulls apart with a fork and the sauce leaves a glossy green coating on every piece, you have exactly what you want. Now try not to use all the rice chasing the sauce at the bottom of the pot. 😌
