Oxtail Hot Pot (牛尾煲)

Oxtail Hot Pot is a popular restaurant dish that you can now enjoy in the comfort of your own home! It’s made with oxtail cutlets slow cooked in a rich, deeply aromatic sate broth until the meat is fall-off-the-bone tender. Full of flavor and perfect to serve with noodles, this will surely be a family hit!

Bring a restaurant favorite home

When you dine in at Chinese restaurants here in Sydney, there are classics that everyone gets, including lobster, pipis or fish. But when it comes to just take away orders in our local area, Oxtail Hot Pot takes the lead by a mile.

And I can definitely see why.

The broth is what wins people over. It’s deeply robust, championing a satay savoriness that lingers on your tongue. Every spoonful is thick with beefy flavor and sweetened using slow cooked daikon.

When it’s eating time, you’ll hear silky noodles being slurped up, chased by a fragrant spoonful of hot soup.

But the symphony doesn’t stop there. Listen to the crescendo as everyone gets a lip-smacking chopstickful of oxtail cutlets that were simmered for hours.

The result? Ultra tender and juicy bites. 100% satisfaction.

Which sauce do I use for the broth’s base?

For this Oxtail Hot Pot recipe, we like to use Jimmy’s Sate Sauce to flavor the soup. There are other brands available from Asian supermarkets, but Jimmy’s is generally the favorite.

It’s used interchangeably with satay sauce, which you would use in a beef noodle soup or for skewers. However, you will find that the color is much deeper than some brands.

Also make sure that it’s not confused with Vietnamese Sa Tế that uses a mixture of lemongrass and chili. They’re both vastly different in ingredients and flavor.

But regardless of which sate brand you use, once the oxtails are simmered in the stock for hours, you’ll have every piece falling apart in your mouth!

Why this recipe works

• Double boiling the oxtails like we would for a chicken and pork stock keeps the broth clean and sweet.
• Simmering for hours means the meat will be fall apart tender.
• Using daikon adds a subtle sweetness to the Oxtail Hot Pot and adds extra texture.

What you’ll need

For the soup

About the meat

Butchers normally sell oxtails whole, so we ask them to cut it up for us using their machines because it’s difficult for knives at home to cut through the thick bones.

For the Noodles and Greens

About the ingredients

We use the same thick and round rice noodles for Oxtail Hot Pot as we would for Bún Bò Huế Chay (Vegetarian Spicy Noodle Soup). But you can use whichever noodle type you like.

For the greens, we like the texture and mild taste of Chinese mustard greens, however sometimes we use also chrysanthemum greens depending on what’s seasonal.

For the dipping sauce

About the ratio

There’s a lot of garlic and onion for the dipping sauce, but you can use as much as you like. The jarred sate sauce already contains aromatics, so adjust the seasoning and flavor to preference.

How to make this recipe

Bring a pot of water to a boil and add the oxtails in. Let it come to a boil again and drain the contents. Clean the pot, fill it back up with 3L (12.7 US cup) water and bring the water back to a boil.

While that’s happening, wash the oxtails to remove any impurities. As soon as the pot starts boiling again, put the cleaned oxtail cutlets back in.

Add 17 tbsp of the sate sauce, sugar, chicken bouillon powder and salt. When it starts to bubble, turn the heat down to low for a slow simmer. Let it cook on low heat for 1 hour.

Peel and chop the daikon into large chunks, roughly 10cm (4″) wide. Put it in the pot and simmer with the other ingredients for 2 hours.

Cut the scallions into 5cm (2″) segments and put them in the pot to simmer for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook the rice noodles for 5 minutes or until al dente. Drain and run under cold water, the let it drip dry in a colander until ready to eat.

To make the sauce, start by heating up the oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic in to brown for 30 seconds.

Pour the chopped onions in and let them cook for 1 minute.

Add 10 tbsp of the sate sauce in and season with the sugar. Mix well, then let it simmer on low heat for 2 minutes. Transfer to a bowl for later.

To serve, bring the soup up to a boil and add the greens and noodles in to eat as you go. Dip the oxtails in the sauce and enjoy as is!

Recipe FAQs

Tips for the best results

• As soon as the oxtails have softened enough, take them out. This will keep them in tact so there’s still a light spring to the bite.
• Remove the excess fat. Use scissors to cut off the fat from the meat after the bones have been boiled. By doing so, you’ll have a cleaner broth.
• Simmer for longer. Make sure to keep the heat on low and slow cook everything. The longer it cooks for, the deeper the flavors and more tender the meat.

More of our favorite hot pots!

• Vịt Nấu Chao (Vietnamese Duck and Fermented Bean Curd Hot Pot) – Rich and nutty, this is the perfect way the family can enjoy a meal together.
• Bún Mắm (Vietnamese Fermented Fish Noodle Soup) – Set fresh seafood on the side and heat up the deeply savory broth as you eat.
• Vietnamese-Inspired Tom Yum Noodle Soup – Sweet, savory, tangy and spicy, there are so many flavors to excite your tastebuds in this dish.
• Satay Beef Noodle Soup – Dip thinly sliced beef in a creamy satay soup and slurp up silky rice noodles this weekend!

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