← Nouns Cooking · Malaysian & Singaporean

Ingredients

• 1.5 kg Oxtail, cut into rounds
• 3 l Water
• 3 tbsp Vegetable oil
• 8 Shallot, pounded or blended
• 6 cloves Garlic, pounded or blended
• 4 cm piece Ginger, pounded or blended
• 1 Cinnamon stick
• 2 Star anise
• 4 cardamom pods
• 6 Cloves
• 1 tbsp Coriander seeds, toasted and ground
• 1 tsp Fennel seeds, toasted and ground
• 1 tsp Cumin seeds, toasted and ground
• 1 tsp Black pepper, freshly ground
• 3 Potato, peeled, cut into chunks
• 2 Carrot, cut into chunks
• 2 Tomato, quartered
• 2 tsp Salt, or to taste
• 2 Spring onion, chopped
• 1 handful Coriander (cilantro), chopped
• 2 tbsp Crispy fried shallots
• 1 Lime, cut into wedges

Method

1. Put the oxtail in a large pot, cover with cold water and bring to the boil. Boil for 10 min, then drain and rinse off the scum.
2. Dry the pot, heat the oil over medium heat and fry the cinnamon, star anise, cardamom and cloves for 1 min. Add the pounded shallots, garlic and ginger and fry for 5 min until golden.
3. Stir in the ground soup spices for 30 seconds, then add the oxtail and the 3 l of water. Bring to the boil, skim, cover partly and simmer gently for 2½ hours until the meat is very tender.
4. Add the potatoes and carrots and simmer for 20 min, then the tomatoes and salt for 5 min more.
5. Skim off excess fat, taste for salt and pepper, and serve scattered with spring onion, coriander and fried shallots, with lime wedges and sambal kicap on the side.

Tips

• A pressure cooker gets the oxtail tender in about 45 min at high pressure.
• Chill the soup overnight and lift the set fat off the top for a cleaner broth.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

Taste Asian Food Nomadette