Stewed Oxtail

  

🥘 Introduction
🥘 Snapshot
🥘 Introduction
🥘 Ingredients
🥘 Method
🥘 Sides & Variations
🥘 Make-Ahead & Storage
🥘 Footer blurb

Introduction

Snapshot

  • Serves: 4–6
  • Time (oven/stove): 20–25 min prep & browning • 3–3½ h cook • ~3¾–4 h total
  • Time (pressure cooker): 20–25 min prep & browning • 45–60 min high pressure + 15 min natural release • ~1½–2 h total
  • Good for: cold nights, make-ahead, freezer-friendly comfort

Introduction

Oxtail is nose-to-tail cooking at its most comforting: modest pieces that, with time and patience, become a glossy, deeply savoury stew. Collagen melts to gelatine, giving the sauce body and silk you can’t fake. Brown the pieces well, build a vegetable base, deglaze with wine or ale, then cook gently until the meat slips from the bone. Rich by nature, the stew welcomes brighteners like tomato paste, Worcestershire and even a strip of orange peel. In Australia, oxtail is widely available; if you can’t find it, beef shin (gravy beef) is a fine stand-in.

Ingredients

Oxtail & aromatics

  • 1.5–2 kg oxtail pieces, trimmed of excess surface fat
  • 2 tbsp plain flour
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 large onions (about 400 g), chopped
  • 2 carrots (about 250 g), chopped
  • 2 celery sticks (about 150 g), chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic, sliced

Liquids & seasonings

  • 250 ml dry red wine (or dark ale)
  • 750 ml beef stock
  • 2 tbsp tomato paste
  • 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 bay leaf, 3 sprigs thyme
  • 1 strip orange peel (optional, for lift)
  • Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

  1. Prep & flour: Pat oxtail dry; season with salt and pepper. Dust lightly with flour, shaking off excess.
  2. Brown well: Heat oil in a heavy casserole over medium–high. Brown oxtail in batches until well coloured. Remove to a bowl.
  3. Build the base: Lower heat to medium. Add onions, carrots and celery; cook 8–10 min until lightly golden. Stir in garlic and tomato paste; cook 1 min.
  4. Deglaze: Pour in wine; bubble 2–3 min, scraping up browned bits.
  5. Long, gentle cook: Return oxtail and any juices. Add stock, Worcestershire, bay, thyme and orange peel. Bring to a simmer.
  • Oven: Cover and cook at 160 °C (fan 140 °C) 3–3½ h, turning pieces once or twice.
  • Stovetop: Barely simmer, covered, 3–3½ h.
  • Pressure cooker: High pressure 45–60 min, then 15 min natural release.

Meat is ready when it pulls easily from the bone.

  1. Finish the sauce: Lift out oxtail. Skim fat from the surface (or chill and remove when cold). Reduce sauce over medium heat to a glossy consistency. Adjust seasoning with salt, pepper and a splash of vinegar if needed. Return meat to warm through.
  2. Serve: Spoon into warm bowls with mash, soft polenta or buttered noodles. Scatter with chopped parsley if you like.

Sides & Variations

  • Mushrooms: Add 200 g sliced mushrooms for the last 30 min (oven/stove) or sauté separately and stir in at the end.
  • Pub style: Swap wine for 250 ml dark ale; add 1 tsp brown sugar.
  • Caribbean nod: Add ¼–½ tsp ground allspice and a little Scotch bonnet (to taste).
  • Can’t find oxtail? Use 1.5–2 kg beef shin (gravy beef); texture differs but still generous.

Make-Ahead & Storage

  • Even better next day. Cool quickly, refrigerate up to 3 days, or freeze up to 3 months.
  • Reheat gently until piping hot; skim any set fat before reheating.
  • For a lighter finish, chill overnight and lift off the fat cap before warming.

Footer blurb

“If you’re going to kill the animal, it seems only polite to use the whole thing.” — Fergus Henderson

Comments

Post a Comment