Ox-tail soup

One of my personal favourites of my Mama's cooking.

Recipe is courtesy of Little Chef's Mama of course ~ Thanks Ma.

Ingredients:

1 large ox-tail chopped

2 big onions quartered

2 big ripe tomatoes

2 carrots or 3 potatoes, cut into chunks

1 bulb of garlic3

thick slices of ginger

1 teasp. (or less) pepper corns
6 cloves(bunga cingkeh)

2 whole star anise(bunga lawang or pak kok)

2" piece cinnamon bark( kayu manis)

Water *( Quantity depends on method of boiling the soup)

Salt to taste

Garnishing: Chopped spring onions and coriander ( yuen sai) & Fried shallots

Method :

1. Remove as much fat as possible from ox-tail pieces.

2. Put everything into pot and add sufficient water to bring to a boil.

3. Remove the scum and oil floating in the pot by ladling gently. This will give a clear appearance to the soup.

4. Lower the heat and simmer until oxtail is soft and tender.

5. Garnish.* If the soup is cooked in a pressure cooker or slow cooker or a thermo cooker, less water is required as it is not reduced due to long simmering.

Pressure cooker : 15-20 minutes or so ( long time since I last used a pressure cooker to cook)

Thermo cooker : more than 4 hours after pot is removed from stove and kept in the thermos. Electric Slow cooker : 4-5 hours