Overview
Growing up in Jamaica, Jamaican oxtail was a luxury and it still is. For some reason, it’s the most expensive part of the cow; yes, its from the cow and it’s the tail. Not sure why its not called cow tail? Maybe no one would eat it :-). The cow only has one tail, so this is really a rare part of the meat, so I can understand why it’s so pricey.
Jamaican Curry Chicken
Well seasoned curry chicken
Ingredients
- 3 lbs chicken (choose your favorite part of the chicken)
- 1 can butter beans
- curry
- meat tenderizer
- olive oil
- onion
- carrot (optional)
- thyme
- escallion (green onions)
- parsley
- cilantro
- oregano
- garlic
- butter
- black pepper
- pepper (optional)
- glove
Instructions
- Remove as much fat as possible from the oxtail. This is not an easy task as the smaller the pieces, the hard it is to remove the far. Be careful with the knife so you do not cut yourself.
- Once done, wash the oxtail with water and lime juice. Wash throughly and drain off all the remaining water. Out this aside for now.
- If you are using any fresh herbs, now its the time to prepare them and then chop them up.
- Add the chopped herbs and/or the bottled seasoning onto the meat. For now, use a spoon to stir everything into the oxtail.
- Add the browning and soy sauce.
- Use your gloved hand to ensure that all the seasoning is onto the meat. The reason for the glove is to ensure that your hand doesn't smell of the seasoning for days :-).
- Once you are done. Cover the container with cling film/wrap. Then cover that with foil paper. It's important that this is sealed so the seasoning does not leak.
- Place into the refrigerator for 24 hours.
- THE NEXT DAY - IT'S COOKING TIME!
- Remove the oxtail from the fridge.
- If you used any herbs, remove them from the oxtail. This will ensure they don't burn when you brown the oxtail.
- Pour some oil in the pot in which you will be cooking the oxtail. If you have a Jamaican Dutch pot that is good, but any other pot with a sturdy bottom will work
- Once the oil is hot, place pieces of the oxtail in it until the bottom of the pot is covered. Keep turning them until brown. Careful as not to burn them or your self.
- As they are brown, take them out of the pan and place back in the bowl in which you seasoned them. Once the last ones are done, re-add the others that you browned already and add some cold water slowly, to minimize the oil splash that will result.
- Cover the pot and let simmer and slow cook for 2.5 to 3 hours. If you are using a pressure cooker, place all the meat, oil and seasoning and liquids into the cooker. Let pressure for about 30 minutes or so or until soft.
- Add hot water as needed. So it's necessary to have some boiling water in a kettle handy for this purpose.
- Once the meat is cooked, add the butter beans, the sweet peppers and the carrots if you chose to use carrots.
- Let cook for a bit and then add some butter.
- Let it all simmer for another 20 minutes or so or until there is no more water in the gravy when you inspect it. You will notice the gravy is thickening. Ensure that the stove is turned to low so it does not burn.
- Serve with white rice or rice and peas.
Notes
Oxtail take a long time to cook. You can use a pressure cooker as that will definitely speed up the process. If not, then just let it cook slowly until the meat almost falls off the bone. If you use a pressure cooker, you can actually chew the bones :-).
In school, for biology class, we used to bring the bones in to study for class.
It is not necessary to add any salt to this recipe as the seasoning you use already have enough salt.