Chinese Oxtail Soup (牛尾湯)

Before you run away all disgusted, give me a chance to explain as of why I choose to make Chinese Oxtail Soup. Oxtails are the actual tail of the cows and give your soup this rich, brothy, full bodied taste and so robust in flavour, that you will never be able to do it with any other kind of bones - perfect during cold weather seasons. It is one of THE most nutritious bones out there you could ever buy for your soup base and let me tell you, it ain't cheap either. I usually get three large oxtails at the Empire Supermarket in Richmond and it comes already to almost 9.00 $, can you believe it ? I like it best at Empire, as it is one of the leanest and freshest I have ever seen. Superstore sells them too, but I find them way to fatty. I usually make this soup once a month - at most two times.


Today I decided to make it, as I had my nieces come over for dinner. I wanted to squeeze as many vegetables and nutrients into them as much as I could, as my younger niece has quite an acquired taste. Nothing could be better than my Chinese Oxtail Soup filled with vitamins.

Chinese Oxtail Soup

3 large oxtails
2 fresh corns
3 large Chinese carrots or 7-8 regular carrots
1 medium cooking onion
4 ripe tomatoes on vine
3 large yukon potatoes
4 slices of fresh, peeled ginger
1/4 teaspoon of salt

1. Step:
Blanch your oxtails in a separate pot of boiling water for several minutes, then rinse with warm water.

2. Step:
Peel and cut all your carrots and yukon potatoes into big pieces.

3. Step:
Brake each of corns into two pieces. Cut your onion and tomatoes into big pieces.

4. Step:
Enter all your ingredients into your crock pot, fill it 3/4 way up with cold water and cook for 3-4 hours at medium-low heat setting.
A very important note I learned from my dad is, that you must never ever add additional water once your soup is in the cooking process. Your soup broth will get very concentrated by the slow cooking technique and you will see that the amount of soup will go down as you cook it longer. Basically the longer you cook the better is will taste !

5. Step:
Remove collected oil on the top of your soup, add salt for taste and serve.


Enjoy !


* If you don't have a crock pot, it's ok, just cook it the old fashion way. Use a stock pot, boil it for 30 minutes then reduce to simmering for 2 - 3 hours. *