Dan Bites

Valentine’s Day…you gotta love holidays that are created for the sole purpose of capitalist pleasure. While the origins of Saint Valentine had absolutely nothing to do with lovers, today Hallmark sells millions of cards and Jared sells tons of ugly jewelry. Restaurants are always packed with their special Valentine’s prix fixe dinners. Extremely disappointed by every meal we’ve gone out for at Valentine’s this year I took the truly romantic way through the day of lovers and put my own hard work into a beautiful meal for the love of my life. I made a Japanese flavored Osso Bucco. Let’s be honest, is there anything sexier than slow-braised oxtails?

While I have never braised oxtails (actually cow tail, not an ox) the principles of braising are the same across the board. Brown your meat, saute your mise en place, and simmer it all together for a couple of hours minimum while keeping the braising liquid about 3/4’s of the way covering your meat.

To make this one Japanese flavored I used dashi and soy instead of beef stock and wine. To start I made my dashi. I put 3 cups of water and 1/4 cup of dried anchovies in a pot, brought it to a boil, covered it, turned the heat to med-low, and let it simmer for about a half hour. Then I strained out the anchovies and set the dashi aside.

To flavor the dashi, my mise en place, I used 4 tablespoons of soy sauce, 3 tablespoons of sake, 2 tablespoons of mirin, 1/2 onion diced, 1 rib of celery diced, 1 carrot diced, 3 cloves of garlic smashed, and 3 bay leaves.

The ingredients I used to serve included 3 pounds of beef oxtail cut into 4 portions (have your butcher use his saw to get through the bone, I went to Olympic Meats for mine), about 1/4 cup of parsley chopped, 2 medium carrots chopped, 1 pound of daikon chopped, 12 cipollini onions skin peeled, 1 package of konnyaku, and 1 package of shiitake halved (large ones quartered).

To get started I heated up a few tablespoons of olive oil in my large stock pot. I dredged the oxtail pieces in flour (no need to season the flour since I used soy sauce, without soy sauce you’d probably want to season the flour with salt and pepper) and browned all sides for a couple of minutes. I did two at a time so as not to overcrowd the pot. I set the browned oxtails off the side.

Once the oxtails were all browned I added another couple of tablespoons of olive oil and added all of my mise en place. I sweated it all down for about 5 minutes. Then I put the oxtails in along with any accumulated juices on the plate and poured the reserved dashi in. Once the dashi came to a boil I let it rumble for a few minutes and skimmed the surface a few times for a clearer liquid. Once I finished skimming I added the soy, sake, and mirin. I covered the pot, turned the heat to med-low, and let it simmer for about an hour and 15 minutes.

During this time is when I prepped all of my serving veggies. For the konnyaku I cut it in a very traditional Japanese way. I sliced the block into 1/4 inch strips. I put a slit in the middle of each and then folded inside of itself to make this braided shape. Not only does this add visual appeal, but I gives more surface for the konnyaku to absorb the flavors of the broth.

After the initial hour and 15 minute braising time I removed the oxtails and strained out all of the mise en place. With the back of a wooden spoon I squeezed out every last drop of flavor from the soft onion, celery, and carrot. I wiped out my stock pot, poured the strained broth back in, put the oxtails back in, put the serving veggies in, brought it up to a boil, covered the pot, turned the heat to med-low, and let it simmer for another 45 minutes. That was enough time for the daikon to absorb the broth flavors and become nice and tender.

To serve, I placed on piece of oxtail in a large bowl and surrounded it with broth and veggies. I sprinkled the parsley all over the top. On the side was white rice with ground sesame seeds and some seaweed salad (the same kind you get at your neighborhood sushi joint, I picked some up at the Mitsuwa Market).

As if I weren’t already in-love with myself, this dish made me fall heads-over-heals in-love with myself. I can only image what it did to my wife.