Oxtail soup

[Bamboo Grove]

Trying to do this for the first time. Any good advice?

[lindosfan1]

Make sure you properly wash the oxtail, or it will taste like S***.
Sorry i will get my coat.

[migrant]

Make sure you properly wash the oxtail, or it will taste like S***.
Sorry i will get my coat.

Actually good advice!

My ex sister in law would soak the meat in water for a few hours and then rinse well before starting.

[E-Dork]

Would be interested in giving it a go myself so got these tips of the web...(Asian Oxtail soup apparantly)

- Do not add too much salt and pepper to season the soup as this is not healthy. Omit the salt if you desire a low sodium diet.
- If you have a hard time finding oxtails, replace it with the beef neck or meaty veal or short rib. However, the flavour is not a robust as the oxtail has.
- Add some cubed potatoes for this oxtail soup as this thickens the soup and impart more flavour. It is great to serve with rice.
- Always check the pot to make sure that oxtail soup is not drying up during simmering.

along with the recipe which I'm sure you are aware of...

Oxtail Soup Recipe
Ingredients
Water [1.5 litres]
Oxtail [620g]
Onions [4]
Leek [125g]
Chinese white radish [150g]
Root ginger [125g]
Garlic cloves [10]
Salt [some]
Black pepper [some]
Spring onion [100g]
tomatoes [some]
coriander leaves [some]

How to Make Oxtail Soup
1. Prepare all the ingredients in the oxtail soup recipe. Slice the onion, chop the leek, slice the white radish and root ginger, peel garlic cloves and finely shred the spring onion. Soak the oxtail in cold water for 2 hours before start cooking and repeat for 5 times until the blood is removed from meat.
2. Drain the oxtail and trim off excess fat.
3. Pour water into a large pot and boil it.
4. Add in oxtail, onion, leek, white radish, ginger and garlic and bring to boil using high heat.
5. Reduce to medium low heat and simmer the soup for about 5 hours until milky white colour. No stirring.
6. Strain the soup into a bowl. Take off the oxtail and add to the soup.
7. Discard the vegetables.
8. Season the oxtail soup with salt and black pepper.
9. Garnish with spring onions, tomatoes and coriander leaves.
10. Serve it hot. Enjoy it!

Not a quck fix is it??? Easier to get a sandwhich!

Let us know how you got on

[E-Dork]

Sorry, just reading through the cooking instructions again which is obviously not done my a native speaker..

Soak the oxtail in cold water for 2 hours before start cooking and repeat for 5 times until the blood is removed from meat.

Does this mean I have to soak the thing for a total of 10 hours?

Discard the vegetables.

What.. just throw them away? Seems a waste. Do they only add flavour to the soup or what?

[Spitfire]

Some might say that the whole idea of an ox tail's soup is somewhat vile these days. Perhaps you can try some tripe next time.

[Siani]

Trying to do this for the first time. Any good advice?

My grandmother was a fabulous cook and made wonderful oxtail soup. I however have not made it so cannot give much advice Anyway, I remember her doing lots of "skimming". This is an imortant part otherwise you get a load of fat in the soup.

Browse through some of these You tube videos, maybe pick up some tips. I also think a glass of red wine or sherry helps it along too. I think oxtail soup should be failry thickish and bold in flavour. If you cannot acheive this it will taste like thin school gravy Also really cook it slowly...carrot is good, leave it in it will help thicken it naturally. Good luck!
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_q ... +soup&aq=f

[crazy88]

Alternatively you can buy it in a tin at several places in HH. Normally I prefer to make food from scratch when it comes to this kind of dish but I have always thought you would struggle to make better than the Heinz version. Maybe it reminds me of days off school with a fever when you always got soup curled up on the sofa watching telly out of the corner of one eye. These days I get rice soup or congee if I am feeling rough and act pathetic enough which is appreciated but not the same.

Crazy 88

[STEVE G]

When I was living in Indonesia, sop buntut their version of oxtail soup was a very popular dish:

http://original-javanese-recipes.blogsp ... -soup.html

[Siani]

Alternatively you can buy it in a tin at several places in HH. Normally I prefer to make food from scratch when it comes to this kind of dish but I have always thought you would struggle to make better than the Heinz version. Maybe it reminds me of days off school with a fever when you always got soup curled up on the sofa watching telly out of the corner of one eye. These days I get rice soup or congee if I am feeling rough and act pathetic enough which is appreciated but not the same.

Crazy 88

No.....my days off school....we had tomato soup with toast

I think it is worth making oxtail soup, a good one will beat Heinz anyday ....sorry Crazy
I think it may be better also the second day

[Big Boy]

Oxtail in the UK is quite an expensive commodity. Mrs BB has bought it a couple of times to make Tom Yum, but I don't encourage it because I think it's overpriced for a bit of bone, and very little meat. What sort of cost is an oxtail in Thailand please?

[TypicallyTropical]

Perhaps you can try some tripe next time.

Actually, Menudo is a pretty good Mexican tripe soup, and I had some totally awesome Tripe Stew in Hungary.

[PeteC]

I think many times when you see ox tail soup on the menu in the West, it's simply made with beef bits. Pete

[margaretcarnes]

I would throw in some shin of beef, carrot, onion, pearl barley, and use gravy granules to thicken and colour as well as the potato. Browning onions first also helps with the colour, and a slow cooker is ideal.
You don't really get a lot of meat from an oxtail so shin adds some bulk and breaks down well with slow cooking.
Skimming is essential.

[Dr Mike]

It can be very fatty--make it one day, then let it cool, put it in the fridge overnight. The next day the fat will be a solid crust on the top. easy to remove,