For a rich oxtail soup with multiple flavors that can be soaked up with rice, I’ve found my go-to recipe!
Below are some links to more details, including photos and tips:
Oxtail stew was one of my favorite dishes growing up.
My Story
I had saved two oxtail recipes awhile ago, one of which I have already tried.
Though I continue to look for a source for oxtail at a lower cost, I’m still able to buy it at a price that is almost half of what I would pay at a nearby supermarket, so I wanted to try the second recipe.
Inspiring Recipe
The second oxtail recipe, Simple Oxtail Soup, was from Cooking With Lei’s website.
First Try
Without having to soak, boil, and rinse the oxtail prior to braising them, I wasn’t sure if the dish would come out with any unpleasant tastes, but I kept an open mind and charged ahead!
Ingredients to Use
To match up with 4.4 pounds of oxtail, I doubled the remaining ingredients, but omitted the optional balsamic vinegar since I preferred not to have a sour flavor in the soup. The adjusted amounts were as follows:
- 8 medium potatoes
- 2 onions
- 4 tablespoons of soybean paste
- 4 tablespoons of Korean chili powder
- 4 tablespoons of oil
- 10 cups of water
- 1/2 cup of spring onion
Steps to Prepare
I repeated the three steps in the recipe and did not have to add any extra water during the second step.
Time to Eat
After about four hours of preparation and cooking, the oxtail soup was finally ready for a late dinner:
Recipe Rating
Here are the results of the recipe after the first tasting:
| # of Ingredients | Effort | $ / Serving | Try Again? |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 |  |  |  |
With my inexperience with using Korean chili powder, I was afraid that the oxtail was going to be overly spicy, but it surprisingly wasn’t. There was a good hint of soybean paste in taste and smell, but no salty flavor. Also, the dish was heavy, since the fat wasn’t trimmed.
Second Try
For the second time, I didn’t want the oxtail soup to be as bland.
Ingredients to Use
To add more flavor to the dish, I planned to add one tablespoon of salt.
Steps to Prepare
I took the same steps as before, but also added the salt during the second step, along with the water, oxtail, potatoes, soybean paste, and chili powder.
Here’s the pot of oxtail soup when it was done:
Time to Eat
Here’s a bowl of soup from the second try:
Recipe Rating
Below are the results of the recipe after making just one change:
| # of Ingredients | Effort | $ / Serving | Try Again? |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | | | |
This time, the lightly salted oxtail certainly elevated the dish!
Though I really enjoyed this dish, I can still improve it by making it less heavy. One way to do this is the following:
Continuous Improvement
- Refrigerate the oxtail soup overnight, remove the layer of fat, reheat, and serve.
Applicable to other areas of life, the following is what I need to remember:
Lesson for Dumber Self
- Never think that the current situation is at its best. (In the case of oxtail prices, I just found a place that sells the same brand, but for a little over $2 less per pound!)
What will you do now?
Next Step for You
- Try the Simple Oxtail Soup recipe from Cooking With Lei?
- Share your favorite oxtail recipe?
- Read another post on this site? (Go to the menu at the top of the page.)
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