Winter

Caribbean Oxtail Stew

January 17, 2014
5
1 Ratings
  • Serves 6-8
Author Notes

before we moved into my condo, as we were moving out of dw’s apartment he introduced me to a Trinidadian restaurant around the corner. i was pissed. because the food’s amazing and it’s within walking distance and he’d never taken me before. we haven’t been back in a long time, this is very similar to a trinidadian oxtail stew, it's adapted from a recipe i found from saveur.com.
call around to your local butchers or favorite grocer to see if they have fresh oxtail, grassfed being the best.
this is a fatty dish, have a salad on the side to cut through the richness. then run a mile or so.
the original dish calls for carrots, brown sugar and Worcestershire sauce, ingredients we had every intention of adding in the last hour or so. but we forgot. we were busy watching the Following. —Lan | MoreStomach

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 1 tablespoon canola oil, for browning
  • 3 pounds oxtails
  • salt/pepper to taste
  • 3 tablespoons tomato paste, best is homemade
  • 1 tablespoon ginger, minced
  • 6 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 2 large onions, rough chopped
  • 1 rib celery
  • 2 tablespoons flour
  • 4 cups stock, best is homemade
  • 1 tablespoon whole allspice berries
  • 4 sprigs of thyme
  • 1 teaspoon generous of habanero paste
Directions
  1. season oxtails with salt & pepper in a dutch oven or heavy bottomed pot, over medium high heat, heat up the oil and brown the oxtail to your heart’s content. go for a deep color. transfer to plate, ignore.
  2. into the pot add the tomato paste, ginger, onions and celery, saute until soft. add in the flour and stir until smooth. just make sure the flour’s all gone. add the oxtail in again, along with the stock, allspice, thyme and chiles. bring to a broil, then reduce heat to low, cook for about 3 hours. i may have let it go for 4 hours, until meat is tender and falling off the bone. check seasoning.
  3. serve atop wild rice. best the next day, or the following even

See what other Food52ers are saying.

  • Lan | MoreStomach
    Lan | MoreStomach
  • nickelhn
    nickelhn

2 Reviews

nickelhn November 14, 2018
I got some lovely local, grass fed and finished oxtails from the farmer's market in Wyoming and wanted to treat them right. This recipe was delicious and easy. It had complexity and just enough heat. I served with regular rice and braised baby bok choy.
 
Lan |. November 14, 2018
that sounds amazing! now that the weather has turned for the cold, this dish is so perfect to tuck into. i am glad that it hit the spot for you, and thank you for letting me know how it turned out!