Oxtail Soup (Sup Ekor)

Ingredients:

125 ml / 4 fl oz / ½ cup Vegetable Oil
500 g / 1 Pound, 1 ½ oz Oxtail, cleaned and cut into bite-size pieces
2 Tbsp, 1 oz Coriander Powder (Serbuk Ketumbar)
1 Tbsp / ½ oz Cumin Powder
1 Tbsp / ½ oz Fennel Powder
1 ½ Tbsp / 1 2/5 fl oz Tomato puree
1.5 litres / 2 Pints / 6 cups water
1 Carrot, peeled and diced
1 Potato, peeled and diced
2 Celery, diced
Handful Black Pepper, freshly cracked
Handful Coriander (Cilantro, Chinese Parsley or Ketumbar), chopped
Handful crisp-fried Shallots (Bawang Goreng)
Salt

Whole Spices:

4 Cardamom Pods
1 Cinnamon Bark (Kulit Kayu Manis)
6 Cloves
2 Star Anise

Paste Ingredients: - to be finely grounded

10 Shallots (Red Onions), peeled
4 Garlic cloves, peeled
2 Lemongrass (Serai), finely sliced
1 cm / ½ inch fresh Ginger, peeled
1 cup water

Method:

Mix Oxtails with flour, salt, black pepper, and sear in hot vegetable oil. Fry until all sides of meat are caramelized. Drain and set aside.

Using the same oil, sauté the Whole Spices and Paste until fragrant. Add in Coriander Powder, Cumin Powder and Fennel Powder, Black Pepper and sauté over low heat for 3-4 minutes until fragrant. Add in Celery, mix them, and off the fire.

Put the Oxtails into a big pot; add in Carrots, Potatoes, Tomato puree and the Spice Paste. Add in water, Coriander, Parsley, Lemongrass, crisp-fried Shallots, and Salt to taste. Mix them evenly and bring to simmer for 2-2½ hours, until the Oxtail is tender.

Just before serving, garnish soup with some Spring Onion and crisp-fried Shallots.