Hawaiian Oxtail Soup

In this recipe

What are oxtails?
What defines this Hawaiian?
Why pre-cook the oxtail first?
What is dried orange peel?
substitutions and additions

Oxtails! My goodness how I love you.

We grew up eating oxtail stew, a very rich, hearty stew perfect for cold days. You don’t find them that often on the market. So when they show up, I usually gain a few pounds.

The oxtail is the tail of an ox, usually cut into segments. It’s a chewy, flavorful cut, well marbled with fat and perfect for slow simmering in stews or soups. And here’s the best part, the bones have a lot of collagen, so good for making a gelatinous broth.

Oxtail soup is served all over Hawaii. Unlike the thick and hearty stew I grew up with, Hawaiian soup is relatively light with a thin broth and spices of ginger, star anise, orange, scallion, and cilantro.

Peanuts are also found. What a combination! The flavors just tingle.

Incidentally, while oxtails are often hard to find in regular markets, Costco and Asian Groceries often carry them.

What Makes This Soup Hawaiian?

Although oxtail soup is famous in Hawaii for local cuisine, it was Chinese-inspired. It was so loved by Okinawa transplants that it became popular in Hawaii. The islanders made it their own by adding more flavorings (like star anise and dried orange peel), tossing in peanuts, and topping it with ginger and more fresh herbs.

The restaurants best known in Hawaii for serving up great oxtail soup happen to be associated with bowling alleys.

Why pre-cook the oxtail first?

Parboiling (partially cooking) oxtails rids the bones of impurities that can cloud the soup. If you don’t want to pre-cook the oxtails, you can also roast them in a 350°F oven on a sheet pan for about 30 minutes before cooking. Not only does this add an extra layer of flavor, but it also helps extract some of the fat.

What is dried orange peel?

Chenpi (or Chen Pi or Chempi) is a sun-dried tangerine or tangerine peel used as a flavoring in Chinese cuisine and medicine. Traditionally, it was made from green, unripe citrus fruits.

Just like herbs, tangerine peels become sharper as they dry. Here’s a method for making your own. Or you can just buy it in Asian and other international markets or online.

Oxtail Soup Substitutions and Additions

You can add or remove the peanuts as you like
Add fresh or dried shiitake mushrooms
Replace the mustard leaves with baby bok choy or another vegetable
Add a cinnamon stick, some whole black peppercorns, and/or a bay leaf
Substitute fresh orange or tangerine peels if you don’t have dried ones
Add chopped carrots, onions or radishes
Use beef stock instead of water for a thicker, richer flavor
Replace the salt with fish sauce, miso paste, or soy sauce

More delicious oxtail recipes

Glazed oxtails
Oxtail Pie
Oxtail stew
Oxtail beef bouillon soup

preparation time
8 minutes

cooking time
3 hrs 45 mins

total time
3 hrs 53 mins

portions
4 servings

One ingredient that may not be readily available is dried orange peel. (You can buy it fairly easily in Hawaii and most Asian grocery stores.)

What I did for this ingredient is I used a vegetable peeler to scrape a long strip of zest (just the zest) from an orange. I put it on a shelf in my kitchen to dry for a week. It worked great!

If I didn’t think about drying the zest, I would just use a few teaspoons of orange zest instead.

2 lb oxtails
1 stripes dried orange peel (peel, not the pith), see recipe note
2 all star anise
1 (2 inch) piece fresh ginger, thinly sliced
Saltat least 1 tablespoonplus more to taste
1/2 Cup peeled and skinned raw peanuts (can roasted unsalted peanuts)
1/8 teaspoon chili pepper flakes (or more to taste)
2 cups loose packed coarsely chopped fresh mustard green

Garnishes:

Fresh corianderchopped
Green Onionswhite and green parts cut diagonally
Freshly grated Ginger

Pre-cook the oxtails, cutting off excess fat:

Fill half a large (5 quart) saucepan and bring to a boil. Add the oxtails and pre-cook for 30 minutes. Drain the pot and rinse the oxtails with water. Trim excess fat from the oxtails.
Simmer the oxtails for 1 hour:

Put the oxtails back in the pot. Cover 1 cm with water. Add orange zest, star anise, ginger and salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce over low heat. Cover and simmer for 1 hour.
Add the peanuts and simmer longer:

Add the peanuts and simmer for another 2 to 3 hours, until the oxtail is tender and falling off the bone.
Skim fat:

At this point, you can either skim the fat from the soup and move on to the next step, or allow the soup to cool and refrigerate overnight. The next day, the fat has set and can be easily peeled off the top of the soup.

The flavors will also be absorbed by the oxtails if you let the soup sit overnight.
Add the chili flakes and mustard:

Bring the soup to a simmer again. Add the chili flakes and mustard. Cook for an additional 5 minutes or until the mustard greens are soft.
Garnish to serve:

Garnish with chopped fresh coriander, spring onions and freshly grated or sliced ginger. Serve with steamed white rice and a side of soy sauce for dipping.

If you wish, you can detach the meat from the bones before serving. We prefer the meat on the bone, in which case you should provide a bowl for the bones.