Oxtails—a deeply beefy cut full of connective tissue—practically melt when braised, resulting in savory, tender meat and a rich and glossy gravy. Novelist Bryan Washington's recipe for Jamaican braised oxtails, an homage to one prepared by his mother, is perfumed by plenty of warming spices, hot Scotch bonnet chiles, and fresh thyme, while sweet carrots and creamy beans round out the dish.
It looked lovely. I was reminded of when mom used to cook oxtail stew. Ran to the store to get some. Until I saw that it was $11 a pound. It was then that I remembered why we ate oxtails. It was considered a "trash" cut and was dirt cheap.
I gave a three rating because I made changes. Oxtails are a favorite less sugar 1 TBS plenty no soy sauce leave the chilies whole unless you are a fan of fire hot tastes. when cooking with chilis leave them whole if they break open the heat takes over. also this is delicious serving with
red beans and rice which is a Jamaican stable. Having lived in Jamaica for a year Oxtail is pretty much always served with as Jamaicans would say
rice and peas ie; red beans and rice
I had never made oxtails before and was excited to give it a try. I made the recipe as written (used Rancho Gordo beans) and served it over mashed potatoes. The flavors were good. I didn’t have an issue with the spice blend. But it was so incredibly rich, I could hardly eat it. The mashed potatoes probably contributed to this but I think it also could have benefitted from an overnight stay in the fridge to get rid of the fat. I got as much off as I could, but it was still quite fatty. Would I make it again allowing time to sit in the fridge? Probably not. There are so many wonderful recipes to try, I think once was enough for this one.
Dominant flavours are spice and sugar. I used two habaneros in replacement of bonnets and I had to eat it with a side of milk, because there wasn’t enough richness or starch to combat the heat. I was largely disappointed with the lack of umami, as the dish was under seasoned and missing depth of flavour. That being said, the oxtails turned out beautifully, fall apart tender. Were I to make this again (which frankly I wouldn’t) I would change the sugar to a tablespoon, a double the soya sauce and probably use beef stock instead of plain water.
absolutely delicious. As with all recipes, I tasted this in my head while reading it. So I made two changes to suit our tastes - only one scotch bonnet and that was perfect and I halved the allspice (per other comments and my brain tasting). Oh and a third as we do not like lima beans. I used some wonderful cranberry beans I had cooked up before that were sitting in the freezer in just the right amount. They worked perfectly. The SU has requested a return of the stew so I'll curbside some oxtails.
I just served this recipe this evening and it was absolutely delicious… But I agree, too much allspice. I would also reduce the amount of brown sugar. Next time I make it, I will add half the amount of allspice and a quarter cup or less of brown sugar. I used 1 habanero because I could not find scotch bonnet chilies. The habanero I used was hot, but not hot enough to my liking and so I added a vinegar-based hot sauce which balanced out the sweet and added more heat. I also cooked separately additional butter beans in a chicken stock and added that as needed because this stew is very rich and congealed.
Overall, I was very pleased with this recipe and will make it again with my added changes. It’s a winner!
I substituted Serrano chilis. The flavor was slightly sweet, but I think the wine I paired it with balanced it out.
another dud recipe from food and wine. Substituted habaneros which are similar otherwise followed recipe.
way too much heat .... should have used one habanero.... and too much allspice.
I made the recipe as instructed with concerns about the 2 Tbsp of allspice. Turned out way too sweet. Suggest you follow other reviews recommending 1tsp allspice
Made for Christmas Day 2020. Good thing I read the previous review regarding the Allspice amount. It did seem like way too much Allspice. I checked with previous oxtail braises I have done, and thus only utilized 1tsp of Allspice. So, if you do make this only use 1tsp of Allspice. (May have been a typo?)
I made the day before and reheated next day, fall apart goodness with a subtle heat from the chilies. I braised in the oven at 325 day one and reheated in oven day two at 300.
Sounded great. All day affair which is fine. But the 2 tbsp of allspice was to our taste way to much. More like 1 tsp would have been better. We ordered carry out.
