Braised Oxtail

Due to my family visiting and a some housemates being away, we haven't had to do much in the way of cooking recently. Last night we however made this little dish which I found quite delicious. Adapted from this recipe (1), the dish is flavorful and meaty and even the sauce itself seems full. Anyways, here's how it went:

• 2 1/2 lbs Oxtail (2-3" thick pieces were used, smaller would be better though)
• 8 cloves Garlic (minced)
• 2 Green Onion (chopped)
• 3 tbsp Ginger (minced)
• 3 Carrot (chopped)
• 1 Onion (chopped)
• 1 cup Dried Shittake Mushrooms (soaked for >1 hour)
• 2 cup Chicken Broth
• 3/4 cup Rice Wine
• 1/2 cup Soy Sauce
• 1/4 cup Brown Sugar
  
• 3 tbsp Hot Black Bean Sauce
• 2 tbsp Sesame Oil
• Water

In a large pan, heat oil to medium-high heat. Pan fry oxtail on each side for about a minute. Add 2 tbsp soy sauce, 2 tbsp rice wine, 2 tbsp ginger, 2 tbsp green onion, 3 cloves garlic, sesame oil and hot black bean sauce to the pan. Mix, coating the meat well, and fry for a few minutes. Transfer to pot and add chicken broth, the remaining soy sauce, rice wine,, garlic, ginger, and green onion, and enough water to cover all the meat. Bring to boil and dissolve in the brown sugar. Reduce heat and simmer for 1 hour. Add the vegetables and simmer for at least another 2 hours. Enjoy over rice.

After 3 hours, the meat should be tender and come right off the bone. The sauce is red in color due to the hot black bean sauce but the flavor is not that spicy. Chili Oil can be added to increase the heat. Sauce is also quite full due to the bones in the oxtail making broth out of the added water. Oxtail itself was ~$7, including the rest of the ingredients coming out to ~$10. Enough for 3 people with enough leftovers for 1 or 2 more. Cheers.

Cites:
(1) http://cookeatshare.com/recipes/chinese-braised-oxtails-with-root-vegetables-44689