Ken Hom's Oxtail Stew

I had the privilege of being hired to illustrate this amazing cookbook. I never found oxtails when I was shopping for visual reference material but yesterday I saw them in my local Price Rite and was tempted to finally make this.

from Ken Hom’s Easy Family Recipes from a Chinese-American Childhood; p. 212-213

Recipe Source: (Ken Hom's Easy Family Reci...
Prep time: 10 Min. Cook time: 240 Min. Serves: 4

Ingredients

3 lbs oxtails

2 Tbsp Peanut Oil

1 cup coarsely chopped onions

6 garlic cloves, peeled and coarsely chopped

1 Tbsp salt

3 star anise

2 Tbsp hoisin sauce

2 Tbsp Light Soy Sauce

1 Tbsp dark soy sauce

2 Tbsp Shaoxing rice wine (or dry sherry)

2 Tbsp curry paste or powder

3 Tbsp crushed Chinese rock sugar or granulated sugar

2 tsp chili bean paste or sauce

1 tsp ground black pepper

6 cups chicken stock (or reduced-salt canned broth)

1 lb potatoes, peeled and cut into eighths

1 lb carrots, peeled and roll-cut

GARNISH:

1 head iceberg lettuce, leaves separated

Instructions

1) Plunge oxtails into salted boiling water and simmer them for 15 minutes. Remove them with a slotted spoon and drain well in a colander.

2) Heat a wok or large frying pan over high heat until it is hot. Swirl in the oil, and when it is very hot and slightly smoking, toss in the onions and garlic and stir-fry for 1 minute. Then dump in toe oxtails and continue to stir-fry for 2 minutes. Toss in the salt, star anise, hoisin, soy sauces, rice wine, curry, sugar, chili bean paste, and pepper and continue to stir-fry for 2 minutes.

3) Transfer the contents of the wok to a large casserole and add the stock. Bring the mixture to a simmer and continue simmering gently for 20 minutes, uncovered, skimming frequently. Then cover tightly and continue to simmer for 3 hours. Check for doneness (the meat should literally come off of the bones) and skim off any excess fat from the surface.

4) Dump in the vegetables, cover, and continue to simmer gently for another 35 minutes, or until both the vegetables and oxtails are very tender.

5) Blanch iceberg lettuce leaves in a large pot of boiling salted water for 1 minute, just until they are barely wilted. Lay the lettuce on a large platter, ladle the oxtail stew over the leaves, and serve at once.