braised 5-spice oxtail stew with creamy coconut mash

Keto has made me seriously experimental with meat, to the point where I’m now more interested in exploring a butchery section of a supermarket than I am to shop for clothes. I’ve never cooked oxtail before, and have only ever tried leftovers from when my mother served it at dinner parties. The slow cooked nature of the dish allows all the amazing flavours of the meat shine through, including the disturbingly delicious connective tissue bits (they’re super good for you too, okay?).

Since committing to low carb, I’ve become a complete animal when it comes to food – the best part of eating this dish is undoubtedly gnawing the remains of the meat off the vertebrae. If you’re uncomfortable with performing such practices amongst company, simply serve the shredded meat to your guests and save the vertebral bones for later. I can’t quite believe I would seriously consider microwaving a leftover bone up for a snack, and subsequently licking the plate to ensure no drop of animal fat went to waste, but it is what it is. I’m a changed woman.

I found oxtail readily available (and on special) at my local supermarket. I prepped the meal on Sunday, and this is one of those dishes that freezes well and tastes even better when reheated. I’m planning on cooking it up in even vaster quantities next time to ensure I always have some on hand. 

Serves 4:

For the stew:

• 1kg or so (4 portions) oxtail
• 2 cups broth, heated (I used premade powdered beef stock powder)
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 tsp freshly crushed garlic
• Rind of 1 orange
• 30ml tamari/GF soy sauce
• 2 tsp Chinese 5-spice
• 30ml white vinegar
• 1 chopped fresh chilli
• 1 tsp dried ginger (or fresh, ideally)
• 3 tsp stevia or preferred sweetener equivalent

Mash:

• 600g cauliflower
• 120g coconut cream
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 tsp xanthan gum for thickening (optional)
• Plenty of salt

1. Preheat oven to 220C/430F fanbake.
2. Place the oxtail portions in a roasting dish and season with salt liberally (this is a common theme). Roast for 30 minutes until well browned.
3. While the meat is being braised, prep the sauce simply by combining the remaining ingredients, except for the stevia, in a large jug. Make sure your broth is warm enough to allow the flavour of the orange rind to infuse. It will smell like Asian-influenced mulled wine.
4. Remove the oxtails from the oven when browned. If you ARE concerned about fat, then feel free to commit the travesty of discarding the fat that comes off the meat. If you’re like me, you’ll leave it right where it is.
5. I didn’t have a covered casserole dish, and just used the same roasting dish to slow cook the oxtails in the sauce. Cover your dish in any case to ensure the meat doesn’t dry out while cooking.
6. Drop the heat of the oven to 160C /320F and cook for 2 and a half hours if serving immediately, or 2 hours if prepping to serve in advance. Check on the meat a few times during cooking, covering the oxtails in the pan juices to stop them from getting parched.
7. To serve, remove the oxtails from the sauce and place in a bowl. Shred the meat off the bones using two forks. Stir in the stevia and season with plenty of salt. Douse the shredded meat with some of the reserved sauce.. Reserve the vertebral bones to serve for gnawing immediately, or save for more private occasions.

To make the mash:

1. 10 minutes or so prior to serving, get your mash ready. Steam the cauliflower in a microwave safe container with salt and coconut oil – the timing of this will depend on your microwave wattage, but it should be around 3-4 minutes. You want it soft.
2. In a medium bowl or food processor, add the coconut cream and xanthan gum and blend using a stick-mixer (as I did), or the food processor itself.

I served the oxtail on the first occasion with mash and sauteed bok choy, and on the second with the same mash again and rocket, topped with some of the leftover sauce. I still have plenty of the sauce that I’m storing in the fridge. I plan on cooking other meats with it, because keto has made me nothing short of resourceful.

 

Tags: dairy free, dinner, gluten free, keto, keto diet, ketogenic diet, lchf, low carb, low carb recipe, meat, oxtail, primal