Today’s recipe is the pressure cooker version of our family’s favorite Oxtail Soup – Hong Kong Style Borscht. Since it’s Mr. JOC’s favorite comfort soup, I’ve been cooking this recipe with my Instant Pot to cut down on the cooking time. For those of you who’re not familiar with Hong Kong style Borscht, it’s basically an oxtail soup that uses tomatoes instead of beetroots in the classic Russian Borscht. If you love tomato base soup, you’ll enjoy this rich and flavorful Oxtail Soup during the cold months.
What’s Oxtail?
Did you grow up eating oxtail? Oxtail is the culinary name for the tail of cattle. Growing up in Japan, I had never heard of oxtail (牛の尾, オックステール). When I came to the U.S. and learned the word “ox” in English means cattle, I was surprised that this particular part of cattle is edible. I was definitely a bit uncomfortable the first time trying this meat. You should have seen my children’s reaction when I told them the first time which part of the cattle they were eating when I made this soup. Well, that didn’t stop us love oxtails as they give such amazing flavors, and the meat is super tender and juicy. Each oxtail piece has a tailbone with some marrow in the center. There is not much meat surrounding the tail, and when there is, they tend to be more gelatinous. Oxtails are great for making braises, soups and stews, and stocks. You might have tried the classic Russian/Ukrainian Borscht, Italian Oxtail Stew, Korean Oxtail Soup, Chinese Oxtail Soup, Filipino Kare-Kare to name a few. Oxtail requires a long time to cook since it’s so bony and fatty. However, with the help of pressure cooking, you can minimize the total cooking time!
Tips for Making Pressure Cooker Oxtail Soup
Oxtail:
If you have never purchased oxtails before, you will need to go to the butcher or a grocery store with a butcher counter. If the grocery store doesn’t have them in the showcase, they sometimes keep them in the freezer. So keep in mind that you will need to shop at least one day before you cook this dish so you will have enough time to defrost oxtails in the refrigerator overnight. For those of you who’re not ready to eat oxtail, you can use stew beef instead. Pressure cook for 15-20 minutes (much shorter!).
Vegetables:
Make sure to saute onion and celery and get the flavor base going! I highly recommend using all types of vegetables I listed in this recipe without substituting. Each ingredient contributes nicely to the soup. Tomato Paste: Depending on how tomato-ey you want your soup to be, you can adjust the amount of tomato paste you put in your soup. I recommend at least 2 tablespoons to start with. If you don’t have tomato paste, you can use tomato puree or tomato sauce. For 1 tablespoon tomato paste, you can cook and reduce 2-3 tablespoons of tomato puree or tomato sauce until it is thick.
Beef Broth:
I use beef broth from Trader Joe’s and I like it as it’s not too salty compared to other brands. If you use other brands, please taste the soup before adding salt at the end. 🙂
Pressure Cooker (Instant Pot):
I usually use pressure cooking mode on my favorite Instant Pot (I’m not sponsored; I just love this gadget!) rather than slow cooking mode simply because I typically decide on dinner menus pretty last minute. If you have an electric slow cooker, or slow cooking fits your lifestyle, you can definitely use this recipe as well.
No pressure cooker or slow cooker?
You can make it on the stovetop! Wish to learn more about Japanese cooking? Sign up for our free newsletter to receive cooking tips & recipe updates! And stay in touch with me on Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, and Instagram. Disclaimer: We received no compensation for the wine review. We received 3 different wines from Jarvis Communications free of charge to use in exchange for an honest review.
