Braised Oxtail Recipe (One Pot) (2024)

FAQs

Do you have to brown oxtails before cooking? ›

Put the meat in the oil and sear each side for a couple of minutes. Browning your oxtails will not cook the meat. Instead, it will enhance its color and aroma by caramelizing its exterior. Browning beef oxtails in a hot skillet before braising will also add rich depth and flavor to the meat.

Fill with enough water to cover oxtails and place over high heat. Bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to medium. Cook oxtails until tender, 2 1/2 to 3 hours.

By soaking and blanching the oxtail before cooking any impurities are removed. To cook: Oxtail requires long, slow cooking to produce tender, succulent meat.

Though oxtail may seem intimidating, it is a very forgiving cut and we highly recommend giving it a try! Each package of McElroy Farms oxtail weighs a pound which is enough to feed one to two people.

While it's not absolutely necessary to brown the oxtails before stewing them, I do highly recommend it. Browning meat results in caramelization (the Maillard reaction) which greatly enhances the flavor of the finished stew.

Searing Method: Searing on the Stovetop with Flour

The idea behind coating meat with a sprinkling of flour before browning in a hot pan is pretty simple: Flour is full of starch that will caramelize quickly and give a deeper color and flavor.

As the meat braises, the collagen inside the cut cooks down and becomes gelatin; as it dissolves, the meat's fibers relax and tenderize. However, if the cooking temperature is too high, these muscle fibers will shrink and seize up, toughening.

There are many ways to tenderize oxtail before you actually start the cooking process. Low sodium soy sauce is my secret! Soy sauce helps the meat retain its moisture, tenderizes the meat, and enhances the savory flavor we all love.

As the original tweet from Insider said, “Oxtail is a dish that is popular around the world, but specifically within the Caribbean and within Caribbean communities in the US.” As oxtail finds its way into the national lexicon and fine-dining establishments across the country, it also faces culinary gentrification.

There is a good amount of fat and collagen that melt into your dishes as oxtail cooks, which will give a wonderful round texture to sauces and that slightly sticky feel to the meat. And the bonus flavor from the bone marrow that will cook into your dishes make this cut one to really get to know and not be afraid of!

Are you supposed to soak oxtails in vinegar? ›

In a large bowl filled halfway with cold water along with the oxtail add 1/4 salt, 1/4 cup of white vinegar and 3 lemon & limes cut in half. Soak them for 15-30 minutes undisturbed then scrub each one of them with the lemon or limes. Pour the water out and discard the lemon & limes.

Oxtail Was Once A Throw-Away Cut Given To Enslaved People

After slavery ended, their descendants kept eating it because, well, it was tasty as heck and still a cheap cut of meat since most of the upper classes hadn't caught on to its value yet.

The meat is cooked properly when is its soft, jelly like and will fall off the bones easily.

“If you leave any parts not browned, you are leaving flavor behind." Wondering about seasoning? Stockton suggests seasoning your meat one day (or at least 10 hours) ahead of time, then letting it sit uncovered on a rack in the refrigerator.

Browning meat for stews or braises adds a great deal of flavor especially given the Maillard reaction which is a chemical reaction between amino acids and reducing sugars that gives browned food its distinctive flavor.

Always start by searing the seasoned oxtails on the stovetop before moving on to the pressure cooker. Add just enough water to cover the meat before you pressure cook it. Cook the oxtails for just enough time to get perfectly tender meat. My oxtail is usually perfectly tenderized in 25 – 30 minutes.