Rabo Encendido or Rabo Guisado [Recipe + Video] Oxtail Stew

🧂 Ingredients

• 4 lbs oxtail cut in the joints

  [1.8 kg]
• 1 teaspoon oregano (dry, ground)
• ¼ teaspoon pepper (freshly-cracked, or ground)
• Juice of 1 lime
• 2¼ tablespoon salt
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

  (soy, corn, or peanut)
• 2 diced carrot
• 1 cup boiled chickpeas
• ¼ cup pitted green olives
• 2 large red onion

  chopped
• 2 cubanela (cubanelle pepper)

  (cubanelle) peppers, chopped
• 4 sprigs thyme (fresh)

  (optional) remove the sticks, we'll just use the leaves
• 8 tomato

  chopped
• 1 cup tomato sauce

  or 3 tablespoons of tomato paste
• 2 celery stalk

  chopped
• 4 garlic cloves

  crushed
• ½ Scotch bonnet pepper

  or habanero [https://amzn.to/3JOgGUU], crushed
• 4 sprigs parsley

  or cilantro, minced

Instructions

• 1 To season the oxtail, place it in a large bowl and add oregano, black pepper,
  lime juice, and a tablespoon of salt. Let it rest covered in the fridge for an
  hour or two.
• 2 Once it has rested, heat the vegetable oil in a large pot or, preferably, a
  large dutch oven over medium-high heat.
  
  Stir in oxtail and cook stirring until it browns. It may release some liquid,
  just let it evaporate eventually and cook until it browns.
• 3 After browning the oxtail, add a cup of water, and cover with a tight-fitting
  lid.
  
  Reduce heat to medium and simmer covered until the meat is very tender,
  uncovering and stirring every 5 minutes or so, and adding small amounts of water
  as it becomes necessary to prevent it from scorching.
  
  This may take about an hour (or more), depending on the quality and freshness of
  the oxtail. You can shorten the time by using a pressure cooker or Instant Pot.
  See the instructions in the notes below.
• 4 When the meat is very tender (test with a fork), let the water reduce and add
  the carrots, chickpeas, olives, onion, cubanelle pepper, thyme, tomatoes, tomato
  sauce, celery, garlic, and Scotch bonnet pepper to the pot. Cook, stirring,
  until onions become translucent.
  
  Add 1 ¼ cup of water, and simmer covered until the carrots are cooked through.
• 5 Taste and season with salt and pepper to taste and stir in the parsley, then
  remove from the heat.
  
  Serve hot. Oxtail has a lot of collagen, so it will start to congeal once cooled
  down.

Nutrition Info