Dominican Style Oxtail Stew aka Rabo Guisado

Dominican Style Oxtail Stew aka Rabo Guisado

This Dominican Style Rabo Guisado is a savory and slow cooked dish that is sure to have tender meat falling off of the bone.

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Course dinner

Cuisine Spanish

Ingredients

  

• 3-4 lbs oxtail ½" – ¾" thick, as much fat removed as possible
• 6 cloves of garlic mashed in mortar and pestle with seasonings below
• ½ tsp black pepper
• ½ tsp coarse salt
• ½ tsp dominican oregano

Marinade

• ½ green pepper rough chopped dice the other half and reserve for later
• 1 cubanelle pepper rough chopped dice the other half and reserve for later
• ½ red pepper rough chopped dice the other half and reserve for later
• ½ red onion rough chopped dice the other half and reserve for later
• Juice of 1 lime
• 1 sazon packet or 1 tbs of any kind of sazon
• 1 tbsp adobo
• ½ tbsp black pepper
• 1 tsp cumin
• 2 tsp dominican oregano
• 1 tsp chicken bouillon powder
• 1 tbsp sofrito
• Juice of 1 sour orange
• Olive oil
• 1 tbsp ranchero optional

For Stew

• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• Remaining peppers and onions diced previously cut
• 2 cups water amount depends on the pot you use, use enough water to cover the oxtail.
• 1 tsp sugar
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 tbsp chicken bouillon or more to taste depending on how the flavor is after the first hour of the liquid

Instructions

 

• Clean oxtail with lime or vinegar by soaking in a bowl with cold water for at least ten minutes, then rinse and pat very dry.
  3-4 lbs oxtail
• In a mortar and pestle, add oregano, garlic cloves, coarse salt and pepper and mash up, then add to oxtails
  6 cloves of garlic, ½ tsp black pepper, ½ tsp coarse salt, ½ tsp dominican oregano
• Add the rough chopped peppers, and onions to the oxtail
  ½ green pepper rough chopped, 1 cubanelle pepper rough chopped, ½ red pepper rough chopped, ½ red onion rough chopped
• Season and marinade with adobo, olive oil, oregano, sazon, ranchero, chicken bouillon, lime, sour orange, cumin, and sofrito and marinate overnight for best flavor or at least up to an hour
  Juice of 1 lime, 1 sazon packet, 1 tbsp adobo, ½ tbsp black pepper, 1 tsp cumin, 2 tsp dominican oregano, 1 tsp chicken bouillon powder, 1 tbsp sofrito, Juice of 1 sour orange, Olive oil, 1 tbsp ranchero
• Add sugar and oil to large pot with high sides and brown meat (separate from the veggies)
  1 tsp sugar, 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• Brown the meat and cover and let cook in its own juices for about 30 minutes.
• Then add about 1 – 2 cups of water to the bowl with the remaining marinade and vegetables. Add in 1-2 tbs of tomato paste to the water and stir in.
  1 tbsp tomato paste, 2 cups water
• Then add the liquid and vegetables to the pot with the oxtail cover and cook for another hour.
• Add more water if necessary to ensure meat is covered and by the end of the 1-2 hours the water should turn into a thicker sauce.
• Skim any puddles of oil and discard as it cooks and taste the sauce for flavoring, if needed add a little more chicken bouillon powder.
  1 tbsp chicken bouillon
• Add remaining chopped peppers when the meat is near tender for the last 15-20 minutes. Meat should fall right off the bone to be the aspired tenderness.
  Remaining peppers and onions diced

Video

Keyword Dominican Food

Delusional Cooking Show | Episode 17

A Rich Memory for a Rich Oxtail Stew

If you have been on any of my social platforms, then you most certainly have heard this story before and if that is the case, I completely understand you skipping this portion. But if not, here is how the story goes:

Prior to dating my boyfriend, I had never had Rabo Guisado, or Oxtail Stew. Then one day, while I was at his house, his mother made me a plate of food and I had no idea what it was but the scent that enveloped my senses was indescribable. It was so delicious. I remember after we finished eating, we went to sit in his room and I can recall a conversation where I was telling him how good it was.

That night, my boyfriend packed up some of the food his mother had made and came back to my house. Because my dad would bring him lunch to his job sometimes, my boyfriend was always trying to bring something back to my house for him too. Unlike me, my dad had tried oxtail before because he frequented a lot of Spanish restaurants, but he had this stunned reaction to the oxtail we brought home. Hook – Line – and Sinker. My dad needed to have this oxtail. He was the kind of guy who, once becoming fixated on something, it became an entire obsession.

My dad called my boyfriends mother, and in his best effort, spoke Spanish and wrote down the recipe as he understood it. My boyfriend helped out along the way, but all I could think about was how my dad had no social anxiety. He hadn’t ever met or spoken to my boyfriends mom up until that point. Yet here he was, not only interacting but connecting. It felt like a bridge in my relationship.

My dad then made oxtail stew everyday for about a month. I eventually got sick of it that month, because anything in excess is no good. But after my father passed away, that memory remained. I asked my boyfriends mom to come stay over a weekend and teach me how to make the same recipe. It is one of my favorite memories I have with her. And it is a favorite memory of my dad. So, here is my small effort to eternalize that memory, by sharing that same recipe with you all.