Chinese Oxtail Stew

Most cuisines hold oxtails in high regard. The large amount of gelatin makes an oxtail stew that is rich, thick and pleasant.  In my youth, oxtails were a bargain food but due to high demand, today come at a premium. I first fell in love with this dish in Redwood City, California when I used to work on that side of the Bay area.

 

Because the Chinese pride themselves for proper food preparation, the large oxtails are cut in half or even quarters making them manageable.

 

Across the world, cinnamon, allspice, lemongrass, tangerine or orange rind, star anise, and fennel often show up in oxtail recipes. Other ingredients include beef stock, beer, port, or red wine. Any of these spices or ingredients will provide interesting and tasty variations.

            5 Pounds oxtails, big pieces sawn³ in half

4 Tablespoons peanut oil
1 Cup Shaoxing² rice wine or dry sherry
1/4 Cup soy sauce

2 Tablespoon mushroom soy

2 Tablespoon black soy⁴
2 Tablespoon brown sugar

1 Tablespoon black vinegar
8 Whole cloves

3 star anise

1 cinnamon stick

1 Spanish onion, chopped
1 ½ Tablespoon minced ginger
4 Cloves minced garlic

Crushed red pepper
Sea salt and white pepper

Water or wine

Flour as a thickener and dredging the oxtails

Garnish

Scallions, sliced diagonally

Chopped cilantro

Fresh sliced cremini¹ mushrooms, sautéed in butter

Preheat  broiler to high.

Rub oxtails with oil. Brown oxtails in sheet pan with a lip. Turn pieces with thongs.

When evenly browned, dip pieces in boiling hot water and drain to rid some of the oil.

Preheat oven to 300 F.

Place drained meat in Dutch oven with a tight fitting lid. Add wine, soy, vinegar, chopped onion, ginger, garlic, red pepper, white pepper, cloves,  and sugar. Add additional liquid such as beer, beef or veal stock or water to bring up a braising liquid.  Bring to a boil over medium heat.

Cover and braise in the oven 3 1/2 hours or more until oxtails are very tender. Keep an eye on liquid level, replenish as necessary with water. Refrigerate overnight to skim the fat if you desire. Reheat in a pot with a cracked lid so sauce may thicken. Heat until hot.  Correct the seasonings.

Serve over steamed white jasmine rice. Garnish servings.

Notes

1. Use Chanterelle mushrooms if you can get them
2. Shaoxing wine is one of the most famous varieties of huangjiu, or traditional Chinese wines, fermented from rice. It originates from the region of Shaoxing, in the Zhejiang province of eastern China. It is widely used as both a beverage and a cooking wine in Chinese cuisine. (Wikipedia)
3. Your butcher can easily do this provided the oxtails are frozen at the time so order ahead.
4. Black Soy Sauce – Siew Dam - This is a rich and thick sauce, made by fermenting soy sauce with sugar or molasses. Black in color and thick like a light syrup in its consistency, it has a delightful flavor and is used as much to add sweetness as saltiness.
5. Chinese black vinegar is a dark complex vinegar made of glutinous rice and malt somewhat similar to a balsamic used in Chinese stir-frys, braises and sauces. Black vinegar is from the Chinkiang Province of China.
6. To thicken the stew and to caramalize the meat faster, dredge the oxtails in flour. Flour  is full of starch that will caramelize quickly and give a deeper color and flavor. You most often see this technique called for in stews, where flour is used to thicken the cooking liquid.
7.