Intro:
This recipe started out by having a kilo of oxtails lying around, therefore, I thought it would be fun to create something a little different. When thinking about oxtails I decided to braise then pull the meat from the bone and make a simple Japanese style Korokke. As the for the rest of the dish I took inspiration from Malaysian and Jamaican cuisine being curried oxtails and a Malaysian style tomato based curry. The overall dish was delicious and yes of course I would say that but if it wasn’t then I simply would not be posting this recipe. The dish packed a ton of flavour and had all those crispy textures to go with it! With all that said let’s get cook some oxtail!
Method
Oxtail Braise:
1. First things first we need to start to braise the oxtail as this will take around 4-5hrs to cook. You can use a pressure cooker to speed this up but unfortunately I do not have one. Take around 1kg of oxtails then season with sea salt first. When seasoned place a frying pan onto a high heat then add a touch of oil. When hot, add the oxtails then sear on all sides until nice and caramelised all over then place the sealed oxtail to one side.
2. Now we want to transfer the oxtail into a much larger roasting pot and place back onto the heat then add 2 sliced shallots, 3 roughly chopped tomatoes, 1/2 bulb of garlic and 4-5 chopped dried red chillies. Keep the pot on a high heat then when the vegetables have become nice and aromatic add 2-3 tbsps of tomato puree, 2 tbsps of mild curry powder, 3 tbsps of kecap manis or dark soy then finally deglaze the pot with 1.5ltrs of chicken stock to submerge the oxtails. Bring the liquid up to a boil then when boiling, turn down to a simmer and cover the pot with a tight fitting lid. Braise the oxtails for 4-5 hours or until the oxtails begin to fall off the bone.
Tomato Cashew Curry:
3. Whilst the oxtails are braising we can move onto preparing a curry paste for the curry. In a dry pan add 50g of cashew nuts then roast until toasted. Place the cashews to to one side then in the same pan add a drizzle of oil then add 1 sliced shallot, 4 chopped tomatoes, 4 crushed and peeled garlic cloves, 10g sliced ginger, 10 chopped dried red chillies with or without the seeds then fry until the tomatoes become broken down. Next add 3 tbsps of tomato puree, 3 tbsps curry powder, 1 tbsp turmeric and continue to cook until fragrant. Deglaze with 100mls of water then boil until the vegetables become softened. When ready add to food processor along with the toasted cashews then blend until smooth. Remove the curry paste and we will finish this towards the very end.
Pickled Red Onion:
4. The final thing we can prepare before going back to the oxtails is to lightly pickle some red onion. In a small bowl add 8 tbsps of distilled vinegar and 2 tbsps of white sugar. Mix well to dissolve the sugar then the pickle liquid is ready. Next, peel then slice 1 red onion into thin rings then add the onion to the pickling liquid. Leave to set any where from 1-4 hours depending on how intense you want the onions and these pickled onions go perfectly with oxtail.
Back to the Braise:
5. After a solid 4-5 hours of braising the oxtail should now be ready to work with. Remove the oxtail from the braising liquid then set to one side to cool. As or the braising liquid, pass through a fine sieve into a fresh pan then reduce the liquid by 3/4 until nice and intesified. Towards the end of reducing peel and slice 1 potato into a small dice then add to the reducing liquid. This will add some texture to the filling then when the potato is just cooked set the reduced braise to one side to cool. As for the oxtail, remove the meat off from the bone then use a fork to lightly break up the filling.
6. To the shredded oxtail we can now add a few tbsps of the reduced braising liquid and potato then fold in to the oxtail. We do not want a mix that is either too dry or too wet at this point, therefore, it’s best to add the braising liquid bit by bit. When ready gather the oxtail into balls slightly just a bit bigger than a golf ball in size then place the oxtails balls onto a tray and chill for at least 1 hour or overnight if you prefer to set. By chilling, this will help the oxtail keep there shape during frying and also to set the fat from the oxtail and braise.
Dredge:
7. When the oxtail is set we can now go ahead and add them to the dredge. First prepare 3 separate trays consisting of flour, a few eggs whisked eggs and finally one with Panko breadcrumbs. When ready, shape the oxtail balls if needed then first add them to the flour, dust well then coat in the egg wash then finally into the Panko. Repeat the Egg wash and Panko again for extra security then set the dredged oxtail to one side until ready to fry.
Finish the curry:
8. To finish the curry add the paste into a dry pan then fry for 2-3 minutes on a medium heat until fragrant. When ready add 400mls of coconut milk and 1-2 tbsps of grated palm sugar. Reduce the curry by half then adjust the seasoning if needed. Keep this warm and all thats left to do is to fry the oxtail.
Finish the Oxtail:
9. To fry the oxtail place a saucepan onto a high heat with enough oil to comfortably be able to cover the oxtail balls. When the temperature of the oil reaches 160 degrees centigrade add the oxtail in batches then fry until evenly gold and brown. When cooked carefully remove and place onto a wire cooling rack to drain off any excess oil. Season with sea salt then were ready to serve.
Finish:
10. to serve you can get creative as you like, however, this is what i did. A a good spoon full of the curry into the centre of the plate then place the one of the oxtails into the centre of the curry. Place some of the pickled onion rings on top then finish with some finely shredded coriander, toasted crushed cashews and then the dish is ready. Have fun making this one and i’m sure that you will love it!
Additional notes:
When it comes to the filling then lamb leg, breast or shoulder would also work perfectly with this recipe. I suppose you could try various cuts of beef also but i find much gamier meats work far better with this type of curry. As said earlier in this recipe then feel free to use a pressure cooker to speed up the cooking process and I hope that you get the chance to cook this dish. Have fun and peace as always!!!
Ingredients
- To serve 4-5
Cook Time: 6hrs
Prep Time: 1hr
Oxtail Korokke
- 1kg oxtail
- 2 shallots
- 3 tomatoes
- 1/2 bulb garlic
- 4-5 dried red chillies
- 1 potato
- 2-3 tbsp tomato puree
- 2 tbsp curry powder
- 3 tbsp kecap manis or dark soy
- 1.5 ltr chicken stock
- panko breadcrumbs (dredge)
- flour (dredge)
- 4 eggs (dredge)
- salt
- black pepper
- 4 tomatoes
- 1 shallot
- 4 garlic cloves
- 10g ginger
- 10 dried red chillies
- 50g cashew nuts
- 3 tbsp tomato puree
- 2 tbsp curry powder
- 1 tbsp turmeric
- 100mls water
- 400mls coconut milk
- 2 tbsp palm sugar
- 1 red onion
- 8 tbsp distilled vinegar
- 2 tbsp white sugar
- coriander stalks
- chopped cashews
