Oxtail Soup with Carrots & Potatoes

Here is a special recipe that I got Wilson to get from his mom, because it was so delicious the first time I tasted it. I even got him to write it to contribute to the WAI SIK blog! Here it is!

---

When I was a young lad in school, my mom would make this oxtail soup to pack for my lunch in a thermos mixed with rice. I was probably the only kid with a hot, homemade lunch, while most other kids ate sandwiches with PB&J. I was a lucky kid (despite most kids at school making fun of me for those lunches).

Whenever I think about this oxtail soup, I can only think of how yummy it is and that the only person who makes it just right is mom. (Jenny knows this too 😉) When we were young, we weren't rich and tried to save money where we could. Usually we didn't turn on the AC and depended on fans to stay cool.

​The soup itself takes several hours to make, and the boiling water would make the kitchen hot and humid, which was worse during the summer months—but mom would cook it for us anyway, simply because she knew we liked it a lot. There was a lot of love that went into this soup, and every time she makes it for us is a reminder of her love and care for us. When Jenny first had this soup, she said that it was "The perfect warm bowl of soup after a long, stressful day." 

This soup is stew like in that the ingredients are typical of what you might find in a stew. Carrots, onions, potatoes, tomatoes + beef (oxtail). The carrots and potatoes and beef give the soup a heartiness that warms and fills you up. Because we cook the soup for a long time, the oxtail is fall off the bone tender, soft and delicious. The onions provide depth and sweetness, while the tomatoes give a slight tang to the soup. Mom also puts in some chen pei 陳皮, or dried tangerine peel, which is popularly used as a seasoning in Chinese cooking, which adds an extra flavor to the soup that makes it really great. I can't pinpoint what it is, but without, the soup feels like it's missing something. Just that little something something.
​
For a long time, we never knew how to make this soup, but for the sake of the WAI SIK blog, we got my Mom to show us!  In terms of amounts, there's really no set amount of each ingredient that you have to have. It's based on personal preference. If you want more oxtail, add more oxtail. If you want more potatoes, go ahead. 

This soup is stew like in that the ingredients are typical of what you might find in a stew. Carrots, onions, potatoes, tomatoes + beef (oxtail). The carrots and potatoes and beef give the soup a heartiness that warms and fills you up. Because we cook the soup for a long time, the oxtail is fall off the bone tender, soft and delicious. The onions provide depth and sweetness, while the tomatoes give a slight tang to the soup. Mom also puts in some chen pei 陳皮, or dried tangerine peel, which is popularly used as a seasoning in Chinese cooking, which adds an extra flavor to the soup that makes it really great. I can't pinpoint what it is, but without, the soup feels like it's missing something. Just that little something something.
​
For a long time, we never knew how to make this soup, but for the sake of the WAI SIK blog, we got my Mom to show us! See recipe below. In terms of amounts, there's really no set amount of each ingredient that you have to have. It's based on personal preference. If you want more oxtail, add more oxtail. If you want more potatoes, go ahead. 

INGREDIENTS:
• 2 packages oxtail
• 2 Carrots (chopped)
• 2 Onions (chopped)
• 3 Potatoes (chopped)
• 2 Tomatoes (chopped)
• 1 piece Dried Tangerine Peel 陳皮, chopped
• Salt
​
DIRECTIONS:
1. Prepare the oxtail by trimming off any excess fat. Bring a large stock pot to boil and boil the oxtail to remove fat and bloody flavor. You'll know it's ready when the oxtail is no longer raw and the blood has boiled off the oxtail. Throughout this stage of boiling the oxtail, you'll want to be skimming the broth of any brown froth that bubbles up. Once all the blood is gone, you can drain and rinse the oxtail, scrub off any excess blood/residue off the bone.

2. Boil the tomato until the skin comes off easily with a knife. Remove the skin and chop up the tomato and set aside.

3. Now, you're ready to begin cooking the soup. In large pot, boil the cleaned oxtail for 1/2 hour.

4. After 30 minutes, add cut carrots.and boil for 15 minutes.

5. Add onion and boil 15 minutes, then add potato. Boil another 15 minutes, add tomato. 

6. Bring to high boil, then reduce heat to medium boil for 1 hour.

7. Season with salt to taste and serve as is, or with bread or rice.

---

Skim off any excess oil on the top, or refrigerate overnight and skim off the fat the next morning. It tastes light and warm! This soup has been in our family since I was a kid, and the work that goes into it is the epitome of love. We hope you enjoy it as much as I have growing up!