Weeknight Dinner: Oxtail and Pickled Veggie Bao Buns

Earlier this month, I went out to a birthday dinner with some friends and the restaurant was serving Oxtail BAO. The waitress described it as an Asian-Caribbean infusion. I was so excited to try it. It was decent but I felt like, if done perfectly, this could be a masterpiece.

So y’all know what I did right…I made it myself.

I already had Oxtails in the freezer that I bought from Costco. Let me just say, do not buy Oxtails from Costco. This was the last bit I had, but they do not trim the fat so it ends up being a lot of work for very little return.

I didn’t measure anything, I just let my ancestors  tell me when to stop.

I cleaned the oxtails with lime, vinegar, and water and then trimmed the fat (as best as I could).

I then added light brown sugar, white sugar, salt, pepper, and garlic powder.

I had some allspice, so I crushed some up in my mortar and pestle and then added that as well.

I massaged all of these into the meat with some sesame oil and then moved on to the liquid seasoning.

I started off with soy sauce. Don’t bash me but…it was not low sodium. Next up was Maggi Wurze. Now let me just say, I don’t remember what recipe called for this, but I know it brings out the flavor in ALL of my dishes that have meat or fish. I also added the smallest dollop of scotch bonnet hot pepper sauce that I could push out and some oxtail seasoning that I had in my fridge.

I finished up with some sesame seeds and a whole FISTFUL of garlic because that’s just the type of person that I am. I then let this sit in the marinade.

After an hour, I browned the oxtails in my dutch oven on all sides. I then added beef broth and stock and cooked on low for 3 hours. Note about dutch ovens: get one…or three. This is my favorite.

I really wish that I had some thyme, but I didn’t. Everything used was already in my house.

I steamed some Bao buns in a bamboo steamer and added the meat to them along with veggies (carrots, Korean radish, and Persian cucumbers) that I had pickled in sugar and rice vinegar earlier that day.

This was soooo good! As you can see, I didn’t make it to the table. I ate it standing up in the kitchen.

I should also mention - it was picky toddler and snobby teenager approved!

Also - if you have the time, I would recommend letting the oxtails sit in the sugars and sesame oil for a few hours before adding the rest of the ingredients. I would then let this sit in the fridge for 24 hours.

Let me know how yours turn out!