Oxtail & Barley Soup

Since I started this blog I have made several different soups. Very few have made it to the blog. Native families love their soups and they will make a soup out of European dishes such as bangers & mash. My grandfather made a soup with bangers, potatoes and onions or a very soupy gravy made with bangers and onions served over mashed potatoes. My husband makes excellent Menudo, he loves his tripe, he also makes a soup only a Native person can really love and that's dry meat soup. Soups are popular they remind you of your grandmother, mother, family gatherings, feasts and ceremonies. 

Oxtail & Barley soup is a family favourite so when I was making this soup for this blog I had to photograph the soup in the evening using the lighting in the kitchen. While I am trying to find a good lighting source the soup pot was being attacked. My mother ate the rest of this soup for breakfast the next day. This recipe was adapted from the cookbook, Odd Bits: how to cook the rest of the animal, by Jennifer McLagan, and is inspired by Vietnamese Pho soup. 

Oxtail & Barley Soup

3 lbs of oxtails (I used 2 packages of oxtails)

12 cups of water

2 star anise

1 cinnamon stick 

2 1/2 large onions 

1 carrot

2 celery stalks 

3/4 cup of barley

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Season your oxtails with salt & pepper and layer in a roasting pan and cook until brown, about 30 to 40 minutes. Once oxtails have been removed from the roasting pan add the onions to the roasting pan and broil until a very dark brown. If the edges of the onion is burnt that's OK. 
2. Place brown oxtails to a stock pot filled with 12 cups of cold water. Add star anise and cinnamon and bring to a simmer. 
3. Once the onions are browned, deglaze the roasting pan on the stove with either some water or red wine and add the onions and the roasting pan juices to the stock pot. Simmer for 3 to 4 hrs.
4. Dice carrot, celery and 1/2 onion. 
5. After 3 to 4 hrs, strain the oxtails, onions and spices from the broth. Add the broth back into the stock pot and skim broth of any excess fat you don't want. Replace Oxtails back into the rich brown broth with 3/4 cup of barley and cook until the barley is done. 
6. Barley usually takes anywhere between 30 to 40 minutes to cook you can add the diced vegetables with the barley if you don't mind softly cooked vegetables and in soup I don't think it matters, but if you like a little crunch to your veggies then add the veggies 10-15 minutes once the barely is cooking.