Oxtail (occasionally spelled ox tail or ox-tail) is the

culinary name Culinary names, menu names, or kitchen names are names of foods used in the preparation or selling of food, as opposed to their names in agriculture or in scientific nomenclature. The menu name may even be different from the kitchen name. For ex ...

for the

tail The tail is the section at the rear end of certain kinds of animals’ bodies; in general, the term refers to a distinct, flexible appendage to the torso. It is the part of the body that corresponds roughly to the sacrum and coccyx in mammal ...

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult ma ...

. While the word once meant only the tail of an ox, today it can also refer to the tails of other cattle. An oxtail typically weighs around and is skinned and cut into shorter lengths for sale.

Description

Oxtail is a gelatin-rich meat, which is usually slow-cooked as a stew or braised. It is a traditional stock base for

oxtail soup Oxtail soup is a soup made with beef tails. The use of the word " ox" in this context is a legacy of nomenclature; no specialized stock of beef animals are used and tails may come from bovines other than oxen. It is believed by some that oxta ...

. Traditional preparations involve

slow cooking In everyday use and in kinematics, the speed (commonly referred to as ''v'') of an object is the magnitude of the change of its position over time or the magnitude of the change of its position per unit of time; it is thus a scalar quanti ...

, so some modern recipes take a shortcut using a

pressure cooker Pressure cooking is the process of cooking food under high pressure steam and water or a water-based cooking liquid, in a sealed vessel known as a ''pressure cooker''. High pressure limits boiling, and creates higher cooking temperatures which ...

. Oxtail is the main ingredient of the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

dish ''

coda alla vaccinara Coda alla vaccinara is an oxtail stew in modern Roman cuisine including various vegetables, notably celery. The tail is considered offal, nicknamed in Rome the '' quinto quarto'' 'the fifth fourth'. Preparation The oxtail is parboiled and then si ...

'' (a classic of Roman cuisine). It is a popular flavour for powdered, instant and premade

canned soup Soup is a primarily liquid food, generally served warm or hot (but may be cool or cold), that is made by combining ingredients of meat or vegetables with stock, milk, or water. Hot soups are additionally characterized by boiling solid ingre ...

s in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. Oxtails are also one of the popular bases for

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

aspic Aspic or meat jelly () is a savory gelatin made with a meat stock or broth, set in a mold to encase other ingredients. These often include pieces of meat, seafood, vegetable, or eggs. Aspic is also sometimes referred to as ''aspic gelée'' or ' ...

appetizer An hors d'oeuvre ( ; french: hors-d'œuvre ), appetiser or starter is a small dish served before a meal in European cuisine. Some hors d'oeuvres are served cold, others hot. Hors d'oeuvres may be served at the dinner table as a part of the m ...

dishes, along with

pig trotters A pig's trotter, also known as a pettitoe, or sometimes known as a pig's foot, is the culinary term for the foot of a Domestic pig, pig. The cuts are used in various dishes around the world, and experienced a resurgence in the late 2000s. Descri ...

or ears or cow "knees", but are the preferred ingredients among

Russian Jews The history of the Jews in Russia and areas historically connected with it goes back at least 1,500 years. Jews in Russia have historically constituted a large religious and ethnic diaspora; the Russian Empire at one time hosted the largest pop ...

because they can be kosher.

Versions

Versions of

are popular traditional dishes in South America, West Africa, China, Spain,

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

and

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

. In Chinese cuisine, it is usually made into a soup called 牛尾汤 (niúwěi tāng, "oxtail soup"). In Korean cuisine, a soup made with oxtail is called ''kkori gomtang'' (see

gomguk ''Gomguk'' (), ''gomtang'' * (), or beef bone soup refers to a soup in Korean cuisine made with various beef parts such as ribs, oxtail, brisket, ox's head or ox bones by slow simmering on a low flame.tteokguk Tteokguk * () or sliced rice cake soup is a traditional Korean dish eaten during the celebration of the Korean New Year. The dish consists of the broth/soup ('' guk'') with thinly sliced rice cakes (''tteok''). It is tradition to eat ''tteokguk ...

(

rice cake A rice cake may be any kind of food item made from rice that has been shaped, condensed, or otherwise combined into a single object. A wide variety of rice cakes exist in many different cultures in which rice is eaten and are particularly preval ...

soup). Stewed oxtail with butter bean or as a main dish with rice is commonly eaten in

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

and other West Indian cultures. Oxtail is also very popular in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

, where it is often cooked in a traditional skillet called a potjie, which is a three-legged cast iron pot placed over an open fire. Oxtail is also eaten in other southern parts of Africa like

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and ...

and served with

sadza Ugali or Posho or sima (for others, see ) is a type of maize meal made from maize or corn flour in several countries in Africa. Sima is sometimes made from other flours, such as millet or sorghum flour, and is sometimes mixed with cassava flour. ...

and greens. In

Cuban cuisine Cuban cuisine is largely based on Spanish cuisine with influence from African and other Caribbean cuisines. Some Cuban recipes share spices and techniques with Spanish, African and Taino cooking, with some Caribbean influence in spice and flavo ...

, a stew can be made from oxtail called ''rabo encendido''. In the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

, it is prepared in a peanut-based stew called

kare-kare Kare-kare is a Philippine stew (''kare'' derives from "curry") that features a thick savory peanut sauce. It is generally made from a base of stewed oxtail, beef tripe, pork hocks, calves' feet, pig's feet or trotters, various cuts of por ...

. In

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

, oxtail is slow-cooked and served as a substitute for shank in a main dish called baghla-poli-mahicheh which is prepared with rice, shank (or oxtail) and a mixture of herbs including dill, coriander, parsley and garlic. In India, it is known as dumghazah in the parts in and around

Lucknow Lucknow (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is also the second largest urban agglomeration in Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and division ...

, Uttar Pradesh and is considered a delicacy.

United States meat-cutting classification

In the United States, oxtail has the meat-cutting classification NAMP 1791.

References

External links

{{beef Cuts of beef Jamaican cuisine Trinidad and Tobago cuisine Soul food East Asian cuisine Southeast Asian cuisine