Ox-Tail Soup

Ingredients

• 2 ox-tails
• 2 slices ham
• 1 oz butter
• 2 carrots
• 2 turnips
• 3 onions
• 1 leek
• 1 celery head
• 1 bunch savoury herbs
• 1 bay leaf
• 12 whole peppercorns
• 4 cloves
• 1 tbsp salt
• 2 tbsp ketchup
• 150 ml port wine
• 1.5 litres water

Method

Blanch the ox-tail pieces under cold water for two minutes, then drain and rinse thoroughly. This removes the blood and scum that would cloud your finished broth. Pat dry and brown them hard in butter in a heavy-bottomed stewpan over medium-high heat — you're after a dark crust on all sides, which develops the maillard-reaction compounds that give the soup its depth. This takes 8–10 minutes. Don't rush it by overcrowding the pan.

Once the tails are coloured, add the ham, then the sliced carrots, turnips, onions, leek, and celery. Stir continuously for 3–4 minutes. Pour in 300 ml of water and keep the heat high, scraping the pan base to dissolve the caramelised meat juices. This deglazing step is what separates a soup with character from one that tastes flat. Add the bay leaf, peppercorns, cloves, and herb bundle, then pour in the remaining 1.2 litres of water. Bring to a rolling boil.

Skim the grey foam that rises to the surface for the first 5 minutes — this is coagulated protein and impurities. Once it clears, add the salt and drop the heat to a bare simmer. The surface should barely tremble. Cover loosely and braising|braise for four hours. The ox-tails are done when the meat pulls cleanly from the bone and the liquid has reduced by roughly a third, tasting rich and gelatinous. The long, slow cook converts collagen into gelatin, thickening the broth naturally.

Lift the tails into a bowl and strain the soup through a fine sieve lined with muslin into a clean pan, pressing gently on the vegetables to extract their essence. Discard the solids. Whisk together 1 tablespoon of flour with a little cold water to make a smooth paste, then whisk this into the simmering soup. Stir constantly for 2–3 minutes until the cloudiness clears and you have a light, glossy body. Add the ketchup and port wine, tasting as you go — the acidity of both should brighten the soup without dominating it. Return the tails to the pot, simmer for five minutes to warm through, and serve in shallow bowls with the meat submerged in broth.