Using other parts of the cow

In January, FI and I were down in Chinatown for lunch and then went shopping for groceries. We wandered into one of the crazy grocery stores with a huge meat section and were intrigued by the frozen ox-tails. We bought a pack and debated on whether we should make a Chinese or American version of an oxtail soup.

We decided on American and picked up a bunch of veggies as well. Then we spent a leisurely evening stewing the oxtail.

Here are the unfrozen ox-tails, ready for cooking.


We chopped up celery, carrots, and red potatoes. I purposely chopped everything up really small so they would cook faster.


We first browned some onions for flavor.


Then threw in the oxtail so it would sear and have a nice crust.


Then we threw in a couple of cans of tomatoes.


Then added all of the vegetables and let it stew.


For bread, I sliced up wheat "man to" (Chinese buns).


Then fried them so they would be hot and crispy. My mom used to deep fry them when we were little, but the panfry would be a little healthier. This batch was a little burnt.


Crispy wheat manto toast!


We tried the stew at the 1:30 mark and while the veggies were deliciously soft and cooked, the oxtail was still tough. So we first had a bowl of just veggie stew and let the oxtail continue cooking. Around the 3:30 mark, everything was finally done, so we sat down to eat.


My version of bruschetta - oxtail soup veggies on top of a fried wheat manto toast.


The soup came out so well. We didn't use any salt or spices and all the flavors just came from the vegetables we stewed with the stew. There was plenty of leftovers so we were able to have it for dinner the next day and I had enough for 2 lunches the next week.

Stews are really easy. It just takes a long time to make. And you really just need lots and lots of good veggies.