What are oxtails? The recipe for a dish from such an unpopular piece of carcass seems incredible and difficult, but is it really so? Yes, there are some nuances here: this is one of the most mobile parts of the body, respectively, the meat here is very hard and sinewy. But still...
About the benefits of the oxtail
The disadvantage of rigidity is also a plus: with prolonged heat treatment, the collagen contained in large quantities dissolves and makes the meat incredibly soft and soft. In addition, it is very useful for bones, joints and connective tissues.
Oxtail meat has all the beneficial properties of beef, it has a lot of iron, vitamins of group B, PP and E, while the tail is one of the most inexpensive
parts of the carcass. That is why oxtails, recipes for which are very popular in Spain, have always been considered a dish for the poor. But he didn’t become less tasty.
Oxtail in Spanish. Photo, recipe and method of serving Rabo de Toro
This is a classic dish of Spanish cuisine, which is traditionally prepared from the tails of bulls defeated in bullfighting. But you can cook it from ordinary purchased meat, there is no difference in taste, only the general atmosphere plays a role.
To cook an oxtail in Spanish you will need:
• 3 kg of tails;
• 2 medium onions;
• 5-6 large tomatoes;
• 2-3 carrots;
• 1 tbsp. leek;
• salt and pepper, garlic, thyme, bay leaf;
• 1 cup brandy;
• 2.5 cups of red wine (dry);
Many beginning cooks are immediately frightened by the number of ingredients, but, in addition to alcohol, all of the above is almost always in every kitchen. When buying oxtails, it is better to choose larger pieces: yes, there is not much meat there, but in the center of each piece there will be a large tubular bone, which is the basis of a delicious dish.
Spanish Oxtail Cooking
First of all, you need to prepare oxtails. The recipe for bullfighters says that they need to be chopped into pieces 2.5 cm thick, it is recommended that you ask the butcher when buying. Prepared and washed tails are laid out on a baking sheet on top of the foil and sent to a well-heated oven for 20 minutes.
While in the oven the tail gets rid of excess fat and acquires a pleasant golden hue, there is time to prepare the vegetables. Carrots and both types of onions are cut into large pieces and sent to the heated oil in a pan or pan with a very thick bottom. Chopped garlic and all the spices are added there. The vegetable mixture is cooked over medium heat for 10 minutes with regular stirring. After this time, it is time to add the tomatoes, cut and peeled. The whole mixture reaches the desired state for another 10 minutes.
It's time to add lightly baked meat and alcohol to vegetables. After boiling for 10 minutes, pour in water to cover the tails. Then the most difficult part begins - the wait. They are very tasty - oxtails; the recipe is budgetary and affordable, but bringing them to readiness within 4-4.5 hours makes me glance at the clock every now and then.
The dish should not boil, the sauce should only tremble slightly, and the meat should languish. Readiness will come when the meat becomes gently melting and will easily move away from the bone. When this happened, you can turn off the stove, let the meat brew for 20 minutes and serve.
Traditional serving
The classic Spanish serving boils down to the following: you need to extract pieces of meat and bay leaf from the finished dish, discard the bones, and grind the entire sauce with a blender into a homogeneous mass. This option is possible, but the sauce with delicious slices of vegetables and a more pronounced texture looks much more spectacular. Traditionally, the dish is served with fried or boiled potatoes or pasta.
Other interesting tail cooking methods
Appetizing, healthy and vitamin-rich oxtails, the recipe for which is found in many cuisines of the world, can be prepared not only as an addition to potatoes or pasta. They make magnificent rich, sticky and aromatic broths enriched with vitamins and collagen. And what can be prepared from such a broth? Of course, oxtail soup! The recipe for its preparation can be made independently by adjusting the number and variety of vegetables, adding your favorite spices and herbs, beans, peas, experimenting with types of alcohol. We offer you one of the options.
How to cook oxtail soup: a recipe with a photo of a classic version of a dish
One of the most delicious cooking options for this rather unusual piece of beef carcass is classic German soup. The basis of it is, as you know, the oxtail. A recipe with a photo and a detailed description of the process is presented below.
To make oxtail soup, you will need these products:
• 1 kg of oxtail;
• 100 g leeks;
• 1 PC. onions;
• 1 PC. carrots;
• 1 PC. parsley root;
• 100 g celery root;
• 300 g of potatoes;
• 2 tbsp. l flour;
• 100 ml of red wine, preferably madeira;
• marjoram, saffron, rosemary, pepper, salt, basil;
• vegetable oil;
• water;
• egg white to clean the broth.
Cooking German Oxtail Soup
Start cooking soup with the preparation of the main ingredient - oxtail. To do this, the tail, cleaned and chopped into pieces, must be scalded with boiling water, and then soaked in ice water for an hour.
Fry well-soaked tail in hot oil, add carrots, onions, parsley and celery, fry until vegetables are golden brown. Transfer to pan, add water and potatoes. A traditional German recipe suggests using turnips, but if not, potatoes will be a great substitute. Cook the soup on the stove for 3-4 hours on a very low fire, it should barely boil.
By taste, the soup can be considered almost ready, but the muddy broth does not look very appetizing, and ordinary egg white will help to cope with this problem. For the cleaning procedure, all vegetables and meat are extracted from the broth, and beaten egg white is introduced into the boiling broth in a thin stream. After a minute, the curled egg will take on the remaining foam and lighten the broth to a transparent state. It remains only to strain it through a fine sieve or a layer of fabric.
The prepared clarified broth is returned to the stove to complete the cooking process. Next, it is worth adding boiled wine and bring the mixture to a boil. In a glass of water you need to dissolve a tablespoon of flour and add in a thin stream to the boiling broth. Then add chopped meat and vegetables, bring to a boil, sprinkle with herbs and serve.
Oxtail dishes are delicious, aromatic, rich and satisfying. With the right serving, they can become a real decoration of the festive table, and a queue of people who want to get a recipe is waiting for the skilled housewife.