Oxtail soup

Soup recipe for 6 people, takes only 20 mins; recipe has oxtail, thyme sprigs, bay leaves, parsley, peppercorn, star anise, red wine, sunflower oil, carrot, celery, garlic clove, plain flour, ketchup and beef stock.

Oxtail soup

Oxtail soup

Recipe by Chef Soomro Course: Soup
Servings

6

servings
Prep time

25 mins

Ingredients

  • Red Wine: 1/2 bottle red wine
  • Garlic Clove: 2 garlic cloves, bashed once and peeled
  • Carrot: 2 carrots, roughly chopped
  • Parsley: small bunch fresh parsley, leaves and stalks separated
  • Sunflower Oil: 4 tbsp sunflower oil
  • Celery: 2 sticks celery, roughly chopped
  • Plain Flour: 1 tbsp plain flour
  • Ketchup: 1 tbsp ketchup
  • Beef Stock: 2l beef stock
  • Star Anise: small piece star anise
  • Thyme Sprigs: small handful thyme sprigs
  • Bay Leaves: 2 bay leaves
  • Peppercorn: 1/2 tsp black peppercorns, roughly crushed
  • Oxtail: 1 1/2 kg oxtail, cut into about 4 pieces

Directions

  1. Up to two days ahead, tip the oxtail into a bowl and season with a little salt. Tie the thyme sprigs, bay leaves and parsley stalks together and put in the bowl with the peppercorns and star anise. Pour over the wine, then cover and chill for up to 48 hrs.
  2. Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 4. Lift the oxtail out of the marinade, reserving the mixture. Heat a drizzle of the oil in a largecasserole panand, in batches if needed, brown the oxtail. Transfer to a plate and set aside. Add another drizzle of oil and cook the carrots, onion, celery and garlic until just starting to brown. Stir in the flour and ketchup and cook until you have a thick paste. Pour over the reserved marinade and simmer for 1 min. Nestle the oxtail back in the pan and pour over as much stock as you can, chilling any extra to use later. Bring everything to a gentle boil, scoop off any froth then cover and place in the oven for 3 hrs 30 mins, stirring once or twice until the meat is very tender.
  3. Remove the soup from the oven and leave to cool slightly, then lift the oxtail from the broth and shred the meat using two forks. Discard the bones and transfer the meat to a bowl. Sieve the liquid into another bowl, then cover and chill overnight.
  4. Remove and discard any fat that has solidified on top of the soup. Tip the broth into asaucepanand simmer until silky, adding more stock if the broth is too thick. Stir through the shredded meat until warmed through. Season to taste, then ladle into bowls and scatter over some parsley leaves, if you like.