Luo Song Tang – Chinese Style Oxtail Stew

I’ve been meaning to make a post about this particular dish but I find myself always finishing it before taking a picture. This is a nostalgic childhood dish–my mom would make a huge pot of it during chilly days, and we’d immediately recognize the fragrant, savory, and smoky flavor coming home from school or waking up.

While it’s directly translated to “Borscht” from its supposedly Russian roots, my mom said that in her childhood, it was a community stew that was made a few days after the new years where all the leftovers in town would be collected, thrown into one giant pot ,and cooked. She and everyone else would stand around fishing for the different ingredients. The character for Luo is 羅, meaning “to collect.”

Whatever its origins, this tomato based stew is an amazing and filling dish, and my mom’s recipe has two secret ingredients that I haven’t found anywhere else, but creates a soup unlike any other. To give it a subtle sweetness and smoky flavor, she would add a tablespoon of ketchup and barbecue sauce. It’s weird, I know, but the flavors work beautifully together.

If you don’t have oxtail, another fatty on the bone cut like short rib is an acceptable substitute. I like my stew meat tender, with a melt in your mouth feel, rather than dry.

Ingredients

• 4lbs ox tail (or beef short rib)
• 2 cups carrots, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces
• 2 cups potatoes, cubed or whole baby
• 2 cups cabbage, chopped
• 3 cups onion, chopped
• 2 cups tomatoes, chopped
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste (omit if you don’t have)
• 5 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 tablespoon ketchup
• 1 tablespoon barbecue sauce
• Enough water to cover the top of all the ingredients.
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Serve with hot white rice.

1. In a large stew pot, sear oxtail until browned.
2. Add onions and garlic. Saute until fragrant.
3. Add carrots, cabbage, potato, tomato, tomato paste, enough water to cover all the ingredients, ketchup, and barbecue sauce. Allow to cook at a gentle boil for 2-3 hours, until the meat is fall off the bone tender.
4. Add salt and pepper right before serving, with hot white rice.