Matoke is built on the East African Highland banana of the Great Lakes — a starchy cooking banana steamed or stewed until soft. In Kenya it is commonly braised with beef, a filling everyday staple of the western highlands.
The bananas turn soft and faintly sweet, soaking up a savoury tomato gravy that clings to every chunk. With beef it eats rich and homey, the starch giving comforting heft against tender, spiced meat.
Cooked while still green and unripe, the bananas are high in starch and low in sugar, so they behave like a savory tuber and thicken the stew as their starch gelatinizes.
Variations
Vegetarian with only tomato and spices, cooked with goat instead of beef, or enriched with coconut milk on the coast.
On the Palate
Where Matoke Kenyan sits in the Kenyan flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 4
How it's made
8 steps · 20 min
- 112 min
Peel the green bananas, rubbing with a little oil to keep hands from staining, and cut into chunks.
Watch outRub your hands and knife with oil first — green banana sap stains dark and is a pain to scrub off.
- 28 min
Brown beef pieces in a pot, then remove and set aside.
- 36 min
Saute onions, garlic and ginger in the same pot until soft.
- 46 min
Add chopped tomatoes and spices and cook into a thick base.
Watch outCook the tomatoes and spices down until thick and jammy and the oil beads at the edge — that's the flavor base for the whole stew.
- 525 min
Return the beef with a little water or stock and simmer until tender.
- 63 min
Add the banana chunks and enough liquid to barely cover.
Watch outAdd just enough liquid to barely cover the banana chunks — too much and the starch can't thicken the sauce.
- 718 min
Simmer gently until the bananas are soft and the sauce thickens.
Watch outDone when the bananas go soft and creamy and the sauce clings to them instead of running thin.
- 82 min
Mash lightly if desired, adjust salt, and serve hot.
