EATS: Vietnamese Oxtail Stew

I had chills after my first dose of Pfizer vaccine for COVID-19. In anticipation for numero dos, I decided to make myself a big pot of oxtail bone marrow soup. The nutritious goodness that will simmer and permeate the kitchen will no doubt take all the chills away. While researching how I want to make this soup, I returned to my trusted EATS category here in my blog to see what I had experimented with before, and I found this little gem in my draft!

Now, I have to admit, I don’t have all the ingredients from this recipe to make this stew, so I am making a simpler version today. But I decide to publish this so that: 1) I will have this in my archive; and 2) YOU can try this! It was that good! I came up with this recipe when Monkey King and I stopped by Fiona, the now-gone establishment of the queen of pie, Nicole Ruckers, in 2018. We were mesmerized by the restaurant and tried their Vietnamese oxtail stew. I must say, I LOVED it. I immediately bought some oxtail and tried to make it the following day. So here it is, without further ado, I present to you, my version of Vietnamese Oxtail Stew.

Makes for a happy dinner party for 10!

Ingredients

For Meat marinate:

A large container
2 to 3 pounds oxtail
3 large cloves garlic, minced
3 Tablespoon fresh ginger, minced
2 ½ tsp Chinese five-spice powder
1 ½ tsp brown sugar
3 Tablespoon fish sauce

For Stew:

3 Tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 tsp five-spice powder
1 clove minced garlic
3 Tablespoon tomato paste
1/2 to 1 cup good red wine, for deglaze
3 stalks lemongrass, cut into 3-inch lengths
2 star anise, whole
3 cups of coconut water
3 cups of water
3 large carrots, peeled and cut into 2-inch chunks
2 large potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
¼ cup coarsely chopped flat parsley

Steps

Marinate the oxtail for at least 30 minutes with the garlic, ginger, five-spice powder, brown sugar and fish sauce
While the oxtail is marinating, cut the vegetables
Brown the oxtail on all sides in small batches in a 5 quart heavy bottom pot; then set aside
Add the finely chopped onions to the pot, and cook until translucent
Deglaze the browned bits with 1/2 to one cup of good red wine
Add the tomato paste and stir into onions along with 1 tsp five-spice powder and 1 clove minced garlic; mix well; about 5 minutes
Add the oxtail into the pot and add the coconut water and water, 2 whole star anise and lemon grass stalks; bring to boil
Lower the heat to simmer for 3 to 4 hours. Add equal ratio of water and coconut water if necessary to keep the pot from running dry
Add the cut carrots and potatoes and let cook until tender
Season with salt and pepper to taste
To serve, remove the lemongrass and star anise; spoon into bowls and garnish with parsley