My hubs works from home and I do as well, so we get opportunities for date lunches quite a bit. One of our favorite destinations is Gardena Bowl. It’s still such a mystery to me why you always end up finding the best oxtail soups in bowling alleys but I am grateful we have this place because their oxtail soup is the bomb. Better than any other places I have had in the area.

After coming back from Las Vegas’s California hotel’s Market Street Cafe for another great Oxtail Soup,  I decided to find a recipe. I wanted to do it. I found this original recipe and alas, it was heavenly. Since then I’ve been making this a lot, but never got around to taking photos of my process.

 

 

I buy my oxtail from Hmart. Usually about 3 LBs. That will get my family full and also leave some lefto broth. You pop this in the oven at 400F for 30 minutes, flip them, and then another 15 minutes.

 

While that’s sizzlin’, get the rest of the Instapot ingredients together. I use Star Anise from Penzey’s Spices. The ginger was sooooooo fresh. Do you know that you can just use a spoon to scratch off the outer skin? Whoever uses vegetable peeler for ginger is doing the beautiful ginger a disservice!! Also, the black peppercorns are supposed to be whole! As for the broth, I use Better than Bouillon base for chicken stock so I just dissolve it in a little bit of water first and then use regular water for the rest of the stock that the recipe calls for.

 

 

You end up with this. The sizzle out of the oven and the smell of meat brings out that warm fuzzy feeling.

 

 

So this is what it looks like when I pop these in the Instapot. Did I mention the soaked shiitake mushrooms taste so amazing when they’re done? I LOVELOVELOVE those! I usually try to make a bit more broth because the broth from this oxtail soup is so amazing after I go for like a 10K race and need a fast recovery drink. It also works great for upset stomach (and occasional hangovers).

Soup setting. 90 minutes. Remember it takes a lot longer than 90 minutes because the contents have to heat up before the 90 minute countdown starts. I always forget to factor that in, which makes for hungry family waiting for the thing to be done.

Well…. Dodgers were playing. Game 1 of the NLDS, the very first playoff game. While waiting for the oxtail to be done, hubs and I were drinking my favorite Black Raspberry Wine on an empty stomach which… made the entire evening quite tipsy =)

 

Here’s the finished product. I actually had a couple of bites and then realized I forgot to take the pic so… it doesn’t look styled obviously but hey it’s all good. I actually use Bokchoy instead of mustard greens cuz I just like the taste of it better. I also chopped up lots of green onions and ginger and seriously the ginger was the bomb. Forgot to buy cliantro and lime so I didn’t put those in but the soup was still very flavorful.

 

So, here’s the recipe again. Let me know if you’ve made it and share your experiences!