Stewed Oxtail in Red Wine

I seldom drink wine, yet love cooking with wine, especially with red wine. I got a bottle of red wine with very good quality from a travel agent, when booking air-tickets back to Hong Kong a few years ago. I treasure it very much and keep it in my cabinet. Until now, I can’t wait to use it to cook with my favorite oxtail. Although this dish took long cooking hours, the preparation job was very simple and easy. The whole dish was gone after setting on table for just 15 minutes. All the bones were still there waiting for cleaning up, of course.



Ingredients:

• 900 gm oxtail
• 1 onion, chop into chunks
• 1 carrot, cut into wedges
• 1 stalk celery
• 1 Tbsp plain flour
• 2 Tbsp tomato paste
• 200 ml red wine
• 500 ml beef stock
• 1 bay leaf
• a knob of butter

Method:

1. Clean and cut oxtail into sections. (If the oxtail has not been cut, the butcher would usually do the job for customers on request.) Trim off extra fat. Lightly coat oxtail with plain flour and shake off excess flour.
2. Melt butter in a frying pan. Fry oxtail for 10 to 15 minutes till brown. Set aside.
3. Sauté onion and carrot for 15 minutes. Pour in red wine and cook for a while. Mix in tomato paste, beef stock and bay leaf. Bring it to a boil. Toss oxtail into the mixture. Cover and cook over low heat for 3 hours till tender. Remove bay leaf. Correct consistency and season. To serve with smashed potato or mixed vegetables if you’d like.