Go Back
Print
Recipe for Korean Oxtail Soup

Korean Oxtail Soup 꼬리곰탕

Detailed and pretty easy recipe for amazing Korean Oxtail Soup 꼬리곰탕

Course Soup
Cuisine Korean
Keyword soup, korean, healthy
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 3 hours 20 minutes
Total Time 3 hours 30 minutes
Servings 6
Author Sandra | Sandra's Easy Cooking

Ingredients

  • 3 Lb. Oxtail beef
  • 1 Onion peeled
  • 6 Garlic Cloves
  • 3 inch Fresh Ginger peeled
  • 1 Daikon/large Asian Radish
  • 1 Tbs. Whole Peppercorns
  • Water to fill the pot

Garnish:

  • Scallions-green part
  • Salt to taste

Meat/Beef Seasoning:

  • 1 Tbs. Red Hot Chili Pepper Paste 고추장-Gochujang
  • 2 Tbs. Soy Sauce any kind but try to look for Korean brand/import
  • 1 Tbs. Sesame Oil
  • 1 Tbs.  Toasted Sesame Seeds
  • 2 Scallions green part
  • 1-2 Chili Pepper sliced
  • Salt if needed to taste*

Instructions

  1. First wash the oxtail very well under the cold water-then fill the big bowl or pot with water and put oxtail pieces in there for 45-1hr. so the blood can get out.
  2. Once that process is over, wash the oxtail again. Put it in the large pot, fill with water and boil for 15-20 minutes. Drain it again so you can get rid of unnecessary fat. Drain the water out and wash the oxtail once again, and wash the pot too.
  3. Second part: Put the oxtail back in the pot and fill with the water, but this time adds a whole peeled onion, whole garlic cloves, ginger, peeled daikon radish, and peppercorns. Cook covered on low heat for next hour and a half (1 1/2hrs) -if you need to add more water you can do so one cup at the time. Also, skim with the spoon broth each time you see the bubbles of fat rising up. That way you will get rid of the unnecessary fats. I found it easier to take the onion, radish, garlic, ginger, and peppercorns out when I drain the broth in the other pot and drop the oxtail back in the broth, but you can try taking everything out individually or just use large tea bags and put smaller ingredients such as garlic, and peppercorns in there so all you need to do just pull it out and since the onion and radish is large that is easy to take out. You will need to pull them out after an hour and half of cooking.
  4. Third part: Add more water to the broth if needed, cover the pot with the only oxtail and boil on medium heat for the next one hour (1 hr). After an hour take the oxtail out, and separate all the meat from the bones, set all on the side and put the bones back in the pot to cook for one more hour (1hr) on a low heat-simmer, covered. At this time you could add pinch or two of salt but you can do that once it's served and on the table. Broth needs to be whitish, rich and full of flavor. Bone marrow is making the broth whitish and bit fatty and that is what you want to achieve while making this soup.

Meat :

  1. Pull apart the meat that you cooked, it should be very tender. Mix soy sauce, sesame oil, and red chili pepper paste; stir it in the meat. For final presentation sprinkle sesame seeds on top as well as green part from scallion and fresh red chilies. On the end I just mixed everything but if you are serving it for other people you can serve everything separably in the little bowls so they can adjust the heat to their own individual taste. I didn't use any salt but if you need just add a dash or two.
  2. Serve it with a sprinkle of green onion (green part) with Rice, kimchi, and pull apart flavored beef that is literally melting in your mouth and gives amazing compliments to the broth. Clean your spoons while eating and enjoy!

Recipe Notes

This soup cooked for well over 3 hrs and you can imagine the flavor. It can be boiled longer and up to 5 hrs.

Once it is cooled down, you might have some leftovers, put it the airtight container and in the fridge- just heat it up on the stove again and eat/or it can be stored for 4-5 days in the fridge and used as a meal flavoring.

I used the first two times beef chuck because I like slowly boiled beef and it does add to the broth flavor a bit. I do recommend for beef lovers to use more meat, but in chunks not as a cut out in cubes beef for stews!

If you do not wish to make kimchi and want to taste it, you can buy it in the Korean, Asian or International markets; they carry usually many different sizes and types. I found my first one in Kroger close to the fruit and veggies sections, it was little jar but It gave me an idea of how it tastes.

If you do not want to pull the meat off the bones, you can serve them in the separate bowls or in the soup, but put on the side another bowl with a paper towel so you can hide what you couldn't eat or chew.

This soup is not everyone's cup of tea, but I loved it and I hope that you will too. My final advice is "do not be afraid of the time consuming and the prep or steps in this soup, it is very well worth it and I know that you will not be disappointed." It's soothing when you have a cold and it can be great when hangover!:)