{Recipe} Oxtail Pho

Have you guys ever tried making anything with oxtail? Say like....soup? 

ITS PRETTY FANTASTIC.

I'd have to say it's one of the most exhilarating and thrilling experiences ever. Besides the fact that you have to wait for it to cook for 6-10 hours (w o m p   w o m p)- you are arguing and fighting with yourself the whole dang time and it gets exhausting. Wait - is this drying up the meat? OMG THE MEAT IS GETTING DRY. The heat is too hot. Oh no - the simmering stopped, turn the heat! Wait a minute, is this broth even clean? Wait, am I overcooking this? Is this done? Should I cook it more? Is this fat or is this normal? Wait. What? 

It's crazy. 

But worth it. 

Eugene and I found a perfect little pho place in Artesia that has easily become our go-to pho joint. They have crazy big portions (I rarely ever finish my bowl) and they have oxtail pho (what?!) I'd never even heard of using oxtail for pho until I came here. Let it be known that we were completely mind. blown. when we first tasted this magical combo. The rich (but light) soup paired perfectly with the rice noodles, fresh lime, onions + cilantro....and, who can hate oxtail meat? It's fall-off-the-bone-AMAZING. So of course, I had to make it at home. (plus, I have 5lbs of pho noodles in my fridge. oops. hehe)

Making pho at home is very overwhelming for me. The only other time I attempted to make pho was when I made Chicken Pho earlier this year. Whenever I make pho - I feel a lot of pressure to do it right and to find a recipe that I can really make my own. It's my favorite food anyway! I find that the key to making authentic pho is really in the broth. It's all about roasting and toasting the bones/"aromatics". I personally love using large onions, garlic and GINGER. Then you boil em until your whole house is covered in glorious "PHOG" (pho + fog, haha - i'm sorry). A little bit of fish sauce brings all the flavors out in the end.

Your meat is most likely always going to be perfect if you give it at least 6 hours. I barely used a fork to peel it off the bones! Then you add your essentials. Then you let the hot, hot soup do it's thang.

Don't forget the hot sauce. Any kind will do. :)

Oxtail Pho 

Makes 2 (large) or 4 (regular-sized) bowls

for the broth

3-lbs oxtail

2 onions, halved 

3-inch ginger, peeled and cut in pieces

6 cloves garlic

1 packet of pho soup filter bag (like the one I used before)

6 quarts of water

fish sauce to taste.

for topping

pho noodles

green onions

jalopenos

cilantro

lime

bean sprouts

hot sauce (optional)

Soak oxtail in water for 1 hour to remove all excess fat and bone fragments. Drain water and clean oxtail. Broil onion, garlic and ginger for 20 minutes until charred. Boil water in a large pot and add oxtail and charred onions, garlic, ginger. Cook in high heat until it comes to a boil, then lower heat to low-med heat and allow water to simmer. Simmer broth for 6-10 hours, occasionally removing fat that surfaces with a small spoon or a fine mesh strainer covered with a cheese cloth.

After broth is finished, pour broth into a large bowl over a colander and discard onions, garlic and ginger pieces. Put oxtail aside and remove bones; shred into bite-sized pieces.  Add fish sauce to broth, to taste. Blanch noodles in boiling water for 1 minute, or until al dente. Arrange in a bowl with toppings, as desired. Pour soup over and top with chopped green onions and cilantro. Enjoy immediately.