HAWAIIAN OXTAIL SOUP
Ok so, Hawaii I was not hip to your game!
Maybe I need to stop doom scrolling on TikTok but doom scrolling brought me to the below recipe and you know what, hell yea. A creator caught my eye while she was making mayak eggs but in another post she was in Hawaii enjoying a large bowl of oxtail soup. From the first glance the soup looks pretty basic - a semi-clear broth, meaty oxtail and a ton of greens but when she took a sip of the broth it looked like it instantly comforted her. When I did my Googles I discovered that she was enjoying a very popular and very classic dish that everyone in Hawaii loves... so I made it in NYC. And that dish is Hawaiian oxtail soup.
I've been in my collagen/bone broth era drinking bone broth as a health benefit beverage for a couple years now ( see: the health benefits of bone broth) and I knew this broth would be a good one because of the oxtail which has AMAZING collagen. I must say I didn’t know what to expect from this soup due to it’s few but powerful ingredients but if nothing else, I was going to get a collagen rich broth from it to drink. I was absolutely wrong as this soup is flavorful, filling and surprisingly soothing. I ate and drank bowl after bowl and before I knew it my pot of Hawaiian oxtail soup was gone.
Yea, I’m putting this on the blog - as I said to myself
This soup may not be for everyone but it is a soup that will be added to my arsenal of recipes that will be amazing no matter when it’s made.
HAWAIIAN OXTAIL SOUP:
2 lbs fresh raw oxtail
2 star anise pods (3 if they are small)
2 dried orange peels, white pith removed
1 yellow onion, peeled & cut in half
1 knob of ginger, peeled and sliced
1 Tablespon of salt
handfull of shiitake mushrooms, see recipe note
1 Tablespoon fish sauce
Mustard greens, picked and cleaned
Scallions, washed & thinly sliced
Unsalted peanuts, optional
Recipe Notes:
-if using fresh shiitake mushrooms roast them in the oven until dry & crispy before adding to soup
-I do not see the use of adding the peanuts in this soup - however if you use them I suggest adding them to the cooking process but removing them when serving the soup
-this soup can be eaten by it self however I saw several recipes serving this along side a bowl of rice, sliced fresh ginger and soy sauce.
-while you can cook the mustard greens in the pot with your oxtail towards the end of the cooking time, once my soup was ready I cooked the greens in a separate sauce pan to make sure my greens didn't over cook or turn my broth green.
-I referenced 2 oxtail soup recipes HERE and HERE and used the common denominators from each recipe for my recipe
INSTRUCTIONS: Place fresh raw oxtails in a stock pot with water and bring to a boil, par boiling them for about 35 minutes to bring the initial film to the top. Once the pot is boiling and the film has risen to the top, pour out the water, rinse the oxtails off and rinse the pot well. Here you can trim off the excess fat to your liking, but I kept the fat on mine.
-A clean pot helps create a clear broth-
Starting with a clean stock pot, add rinsed oxtails, onion, star anise, orange peels, salt, ginger, peanuts and mushrooms (if using) back to your pot with fresh water and simmer over a medium heat for 2hrs.
At the 2 hour mark, check the tenderness of the oxtail; if it's still a little tough continue to simmer for another hour. The oxtail should be soft and tender but still hold it’s shape on the bone. As the oxtail is still cooking, add in fish sauce to taste and once again check tenderness of the meat.
At this stage the oxtail should be tender and still in tact on the bone and the broth should be flavorful. Here you can remove the oxtail and strain the broth into another pot then once strained adding the oxtail back, keeping hot over a low flame. (here is where you can add your cleaned & chopped mustard greens if you wish or you can cook them separately and then add them to your bowl)
Serve immediately in a bowl with lots of sliced green onions and your desired hot cooked rice, thinly sliced ginger and soy sauce if desired.
