Authentic Jamaican Oxtail Stew
Servings: 6
Calories: 84kcal
Ingredients
- 1 whole oxtail cut up into pieces
- 1 16 oz canned butterbeans or dried beans soaked for 8 hours
- 2 tablespoons lard more or less as needed, can also use whatever oil or fat you prefer
- 2 medium carrots finely chopped
- 1 large yellow onion finely chopped
- 1 stalk green onion chopped small, save some extra for garnish at the end if you wish
- 1 large tomato canned tomato works too
- ½ scotch bonnet pepper or habanero pepper seeds and membrane removed, finely chopped
- ½ inch piece of fresh ginger finely minced, can use 1 teaspoon of dried ginger too
- 3 cloves fresh garlic minced, or 1 teaspoon dried garlic
- 1 teaspoon ground allspice
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt and extra as needed
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 4 sprigs fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried
see recipe notes for other ingredient possibilities.
Instructions
- Start with dry oxtail, add a liberal coating of kosher salt and black pepper, and then add a generous coating of dark brown sugar.
- Start browning the oxtail in batches in a heavy-bottomed pot on medium-high heat with plenty of hot fat or oil. Do not overcrowd the pot, or the meat will steam and not brown. Get a crispy, brown coating on all sides. Set the meat aside in a bowl or plate as you continue to brown.
- Get your seasonings, herbs, and spices in order. Prep your vegetables as instructed while the oxtail is browning.
- Once all the oxtail pieces have been browned, add the onion, carrots, and scotch bonnet pepper to the same pot and saute until light brown. Add more fat/oil as required.
- If too much fond is sticking to the bottom and starting to burn, just deglaze the hot pot with a small amount of water, stirring briskly and scraping up the flavorful stuck bits with a wooden spoon, and then continue.
- Add green onions, ginger, garlic, allspice, a generous pinch of salt and pepper, and cook for an additional 60 seconds, stirring the entire time.
- Add the oxtail back into the pot, and add the thyme. Cover with enough water to submerge the oxtail by about 1-2 inches. Let this come to a boil before immediately turning the heat down to low, partially covering the pot.
- If you're using dried beans that have been soaked for 8-10 hours, you would rinse the beans and add them at this point. Canned beans must be added towards the end.
- Let this simmer on for up to 2.5 hours, checking occasionally to see that the water has not evaporated and adding more water as necessary.
- After 2 hours, check the oxtail for doneness; it should still need about 30 minutes to an hour at that point to be really done.
- At the 2.5-hour mark of the cooking time, the oxtail should be falling off the bone and very tender. Add the canned butterbeans now if using canned beans.
- Keep the lid off and let the mixture simmer on low until most of the water has evaporated and you have an extremely thick stew.
- Taste for salt and adjust as you cook. Remember that as the water evaporates, the flavors will concentrate, so go slowly with adding salt.
- Serve hot and enjoy!
Notes
Butterbeans are also known as lima beans. If you cannot access them, the best alternatives are navy beans, cannellini beans, or great northern beans. You can use canned beans or dried beans that have been soaked in water for 8-10 hours and then rinsed.
Top Tips
- Dried beans are preferable, and I think they taste better.
- Once dried beans are done soaking, you can boil them for 5 minutes and then rinse them once again before adding them to the stew. This removes impurities and unpleasant scum.
- Ketchup | Add a ¼ cup of ketchup towards the end of cooking.
- Green bell pepper | 1 whole green bell pepper, diced, added along with the carrot or instead of the carrot.
- Dry oxtail seasoning | This all-purpose meat seasoning mix contains salt, red pepper, sugar, thyme, celery, paprika, garlic, onion, and other spices. You can buy it online. If you want to use this, sprinkle it onto the oxtail with the other ingredients before the browning/searing cooking stage. About 1 teaspoon.
- Oxtail browning sauce | You can use this instead of the brown sugar to sear the oxtail or use it with the brown sugar. It makes food darker and adds more flavor. You can buy browning online. It's basically a combination of sugar and water with citric acid and has a unique bitter-sweet flavor. Add this to the oxtail before the browning/searing stage if you want to use it. About 1 tablespoon.
- Beef bouillon cubes | 1-2 cubes of beef stock can be added to the stew for even more depth of flavor. Add it with the water.
- After the meat has been sauteed as instructed above, remove it from your pot and add it to your pressure cooker.
- Cover the oxtail so that it is just barely submerged in water.
- Pressure cook on high for 30 minutes.
- Remove the meat, add it back to your pot on the stove, and proceed. This will reduce the cooking time by 1-1.5 hours.
- Saute the meat as described in the recipe instructions.
- Deglaze the pan with water and add the liquid to the slow cooker.
- Add the meat and the rest of the ingredients into the slow cooker and cook on LOW for 8 hours. Check meat for tenderness and cook for 1-2 hours on HIGH if necessary.
Nutrition
Calories: 84kcal | Carbohydrates: 11g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.3g | Cholesterol: 0.2mg | Sodium: 407mg | Potassium: 206mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 3712IU | Vitamin C: 10mg | Calcium: 29mg | Iron: 0.5mg
