Wagyu Oxtail is a great piece to braise. A lot of meat and a lot of collagen also means a lot of flavor 🤤.
You'll need the following ingredients for 3 people:
- 1 oxtail ➡ available in the online store
- 2 star anise
- 2 cloves
- 1 tbsp. colored pepper (freshly ground)
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- 1 tbsp. sea salt
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 capsule cardamom
- 1 tsp garlic granulated
For the sauce:
- 400ml wine
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons wild cranberries
- 3 cloves
- 0,5 tsp nutmeg
- a piece of ice-cold butter for thickening
The preparation is simple and straightforward. The meat should first be gently flavored with smoke in the smoker. If you don't have a smoker, you can do it just as well in the grill. You need an indirect area at about 110 degrees. For the smoke flavor you can use a wood chunk (fist-sized piece of wood, e.g. beech or hickory).
Crush star anise, cloves and cardamom in a mortar and then add the rest of the spices and mix to make the rub (spice mix). The oxtail is still surrounded by a silver skin or tendons in places. Score these with a sharp knife and then season all the pieces with the spice mixture.
Put the seasoned meat in the smoker (or on the grill) and leave it in the smoke for about 2 hours. In the meantime, mix the ingredients for the sauce together (except the butter).
After 2 hours, the oxtail must now be steamed. I used a stainless steel bowl to do this, and poured the sauce into it. The meat should not be directly in the sauce. Here you can use a suitable grate.
Cover the dish and cook the meat for another 2 hours. Now you can raise the temperature to about 150-160 degrees. It is only important that the dish is still indirect.
After this time, put the finished oxtail aside. You can pass the sauce through a sieve or not. This is purely a matter of taste. Taste the sauce and bind it with cold butter if necessary.
The connective tissue should have dissolved and the meat should be buttery soft.
