Chinese braised oxtail with mushrooms and tofu skin

I love the earthy flavour of this very Chinese slow-cooked oxtail dish. The tofu skin is mostly all about texture but you can leave it out if you prefer. Serve this with a bowl of rice noodles and some of the cooking broth for a soupy meal on a cold night.

Credit: Gourmet Farmer Afloat

• serves

  4

• prep

  20 minutes

• cook

  1:45 hour

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 kg oxtail pieces
• 1 celery stick, chopped
• 1 thumb ginger, peeled and finely sliced
• 1 handful dried shiitake mushrooms, about 20 g
• 1 red chilli, halved lengthways
• 2 star anise
• 100 g dried tofu skin (see Note)
• 6 black peppercorns
• 1 tsp Chinese five spice
• 60 ml (¼ cup) soy sauce

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 150ºC.

Heat the oil in a heavy-based casserole dish over medium-high heat. Cook the oxtail pieces until browned on both sides, then add the remaining ingredients and enough water to cover the oxtail. Cover with a lid and bake for 1½ hours or until the meat is very tender and falling off the bone. Check the seasoning, then serve with rice stick noodles or rice.

Note

• Dried tofu (bean curd) skin is available in sheet form from Asian supermarkets.

This recipe is from Gourmet Farmer Afloat. 

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.