MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.06
 
      Title: Aromatic Chinese Oxtail Stew
 Categories: Chinese, Stews, Wine,
      Yield: 6 Servings
 
      6 lb Oxtails, cut into pieces,
           - fat trimmed
           Salt and pepper
      3 tb Vegetable oil
    1/2 c  Shaoxing rice wine or
           - dry sherry
    1/3 c  Dark or regular soy sauce
  1 1/2 tb Brown sugar
      1    Star anise, broken into
           - pieces
      3    Scallions, trimmed and cut
           - into 2-inch lengths, plus
      2    Scallions, thinly sliced on
           - the diagonal, for garnish
      6 sl Fresh ginger
      2 cl Garlic, peeled
      1    Orange with
      4 lg strips orange zest
           - removed and reserved
           Cooked rice, for serving.
 
  Heat oven to 300 degrees F. Season oxtails with salt and pepper.
  Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large ovenproof pot with a
  tight-fitting lid. Working in batches if necessary to avoid
  crowding, brown oxtail all over, removing each piece when done.
  Add oil as needed.
  
  When done browning, pour off extra fat from bottom of empty pot
  and set pot over high heat. Add wine and bring to a boil, scraping
  up browned bits. In a bowl, mix soy sauce and sugar with 2 cups
  water and pour into pot. Add star anise, 2-inch pieces of
  scallions, ginger and garlic and bring to a boil. Turn off heat.
  Return oxtails to pot and add orange zest. Cover and transfer to
  oven. Cook 1-1/2 hours.
  
  Turn over pieces of oxtail, cover again and cook 1 1/2 hours more,
  or until oxtail is very tender. Transfer oxtail pieces to a baking
  dish. Strain sauce into a separate saucepan; discard contents of
  strainer. Cover oxtails and sauce and refrigerate overnight.

  The next day, heat oven to 300 degrees F; remove oxtails and sauce from
  refrigerator. Lift off any fat on surface of sauce and discard. Gently
  warm sauce until liquid, then pour over oxtails. Cover with foil or a
  lid and bake 30 minutes.
  
  Uncover, stir and raise oven temperature to 400 degrees F. Cook,
  uncovered, 15 minutes. Stir again and cook another 15 minutes,
  until hot and glazed thickly with sauce. Meanwhile, squeeze ¬ cup
  juice from orange. Remove oxtails from oven, stir in orange juice,
  and serve in bowls over rice. Sprinkle each serving with thin
  scallion slices.
  
  Adapted from Jennifer McLagan
  
  From: Simon Bao
 
  Other similar Chinese braises use lemongrass stalks, Shiitake
  mushrooms, sweet soybean paste, or sesame oil. - JW

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