Oxtail (occasionally spelledox tail orox-tail) is theculinary name for thetail of cattle. While the word once meant only the tail of anox, today it can also refer to the tails of other cattle.[1] An oxtail typically weighs around 3.5 kilograms (8 pounds) and is skinned and cut into shorter lengths for sale.
Oxtail is agelatin-rich meat, which is usually slow-cooked as astew[2] orbraised. It is a traditionalstock base foroxtail soup. Traditional preparations involveslow cooking, so some modern recipes take a shortcut using apressure cooker.
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Oxtail is the main ingredient of the Italian dishcoda alla vaccinara (a classic of Roman cuisine).[3] It is a popular flavour for powdered, instant and premadecanned soups in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Oxtails are also one of the popular bases for terrine-likekholodets, the Eastern Europeanaspic dish, also prepared from cows' knees,pig trotters or ears.
Stewed oxtail cooked withlima beans orlablab —both known as butter beans— orbroad beans and traditionally served with plain white rice and latterly, withrice and peas is commonly eaten as a main dish in Jamaica as well as throughout theCaribbean. Oxtail is also very popular in South Africa, where it is often cooked in a traditional skillet called apotjie, which is a three-legged cast iron pot placed over an open fire. Oxtail is also eaten in other southern parts of Africa like Zimbabwe and served withsadza and greens. InCuban cuisine, a stew can be made from oxtail calledrabo encendido. In the Philippines, it is prepared in a peanut-based stew calledkare-kare. In Iran, oxtail is slow-cooked and served as a substitute for shank in a main dish calledbaghla-poli-mahicheh, which is prepared with rice, shank (or oxtail) and a mixture of herbs including dill, coriander, parsley and garlic. In India, it is known asdumghazah in the parts in and aroundLucknow, Uttar Pradesh and is considered a delicacy.
Versions ofoxtail soup are popular traditional dishes in South America, West Africa, China, Spain,[4] Korea and Indonesia. In Chinese cuisine, it is usually made into a soup called inChinese:牛尾汤;pinyin:niúwěi tāng;lit. 'oxtail soup'. InKorean cuisine, a type ofgomguk (beef bone soup) made with oxtail is calledkkori-gomtang (꼬리곰탕). It is a thick soup seasoned with salt and eaten with a bowl of rice. It can be used as a stock for makingtteokguk (rice cake soup).
In the United States, oxtail has the meat-cutting classificationNAMP 1791.
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