Unlike many old-fashioned cuts of meats, oxtail has never really gone out of fashion, and is still available at most butchers.
Cooked slowly in a stew or a soup, this meat has a lovely flavour. Children enjoy having a good chew around the bones, so usual table manners can give way to the enjoyment of munching and sucking.
The good news is that when they’re cooked slowly, bones are very nutritious. They’re rich in calcium, magnesium and zinc, which – when released through slow-cooking – are in a form that’s easily absorbed by the body. The cartilage and tendons contain chondroitin and glucosamine, which are sold as supplements to ease arthritis and joint pain. So one pot of oxtail is more than a meal – it’s a tonic.
One oxtail will feed about two people, and for four people it will cost approximately $24 for 2kg, so it’s not the cheapest of meats, but what it lacks in economy it makes up for in nutrition.
Most of my old recipes involve simply throwing the oxtail into a pot along with onion, carrot and celery and boiling it like billyoh for several hours. The flavour of oxtail is so lovely that it’s very hard to spoil the dish.
Lately, TV chefs such as Jamie Oliver and Nigel Slater have given oxtail a new twist, and this method is a version of their recipes, incorporating a bit more flavour and a lot of red wine.
Braised oxtail
½ cup flour
1 tsp mustard powder
Salt and pepper
1 oxtail or 1kg, chopped
1 tbsp butter or lard
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 onions, peeled and chopped
2 sticks celery, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 bay leaves
3 pieces of orange rind
2 cups cheap red wine – the stronger the flavour the better
Combine flour, mustard powder and salt and pepper.
Trim any large pieces of fat off the meat then toss it in the flour mixture.
Get a metal roasting dish or casserole dish and melt butter or lard over the element.
Brown the pieces of oxtail, then take off the heat and add carrots, onions, celery and garlic and sautee.
Throw in bay leaves and orange rind, then pour in the red wine.
Cover with a lid or tinfoil and put in the oven at 160ºC for two hours, by which time the meat should be soft and gooey. If there’s still quite a lot of liquid, remove the lid and return the pot to the element, on a medium heat, so it thickens up. Serve with mashed potato or kumara.
Note: For a spicier taste, add ½ tsp of cayenne pepper to the flour mixture and a couple of chopped fresh chillies just before you put the dish in the oven. Some say the flavours improve the next day. You can also skim off any fat that hardens on the top.
Related stories
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
NZ Pork & smoked cheese lasagne
Tomato & basil meatballs
Native ad body.
NZ Pork & green bean stir-fry
