Oxtail Soup - Hong Kong style Borschet
The recent rainy days in California left me craving a childhood soup that we always had on vacations to cold places. The soup takes a while, but trust me, its worth it.
Recipe:
1 lb oxtails
1 lb beef shank
1 Tbs olive oil
2 onions - sliced
7 stalks celery -chopped
2-3 carrots - peeled and cut using an oblique method into about 1” pieces
pint and a half of small or medium tomatoes cut in quarters
2 bay leaves
1 Tbs dried basil
8 cups stock/water
1 14 oz can of tomatoes
small green cabbage - chopped
3-4 yellow potatoes -cut into 3/4” pieces
salt and pepper
Soak the oxtail in cold water for 1 hour, changing the water once.
Preheat the over to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Boil water in a large pot. Once the water is boiling, add the drained oxtails and the beef shank. Simmer the meat for 10 -15 minutes. Remove the meat making sure to keep the meat clean of foam and scum.
Place the meat on a cookie sheet and put it in the oven for 40 minutes.
In a large pot, heat the olive oil. Add the onions and celery and sauté until the vegetables are transparent.
Add the meat, carrots, tomatoes, bay leaves, basil, stock, and canned tomato and bring the soup to a boil. Once it boils, bring the soup down to a simmer and cook for an hour and a half skimming any foam that floats to the top.
After an hour and a half, add half the cabbage and cook for an additional hour. After another hour has passed, add the rest of the cabbage and cook for an additional hour.
After the cabbage is cooked, taste the soup and add salt and pepper as needed. Once the soup is well flavored, add the potatoes and cook for an additional 15 minutes.
