fork tender...

cold outside? well, sometimes you just gotta make a batch of oxtail soup. yep, been simmering some for about 90 minutes now. probably gonna give it another half hour before i turn it off. it's gotta sit ya know. can't get no fork tender oxtail unless you cook it twice; it always tastes better the second day anyway. so i'll probably cook it for at least another hour tonight, adding the potatoes, celery, and carrots the last half.

funny, there was a time when you could get oxtails for near nothing. my mom and grandmother would make them once or twice a month when i was a kid. however, once the waves of SE Asian immigrants started hitting the USA in the late seventies, oxtail prices literally doubled overnight. all of a sudden, oxtails became a precious commodity for those meat plants. no longer were the Wongs just buying the ugly things, but Nguyens, Les, Yangs, Phams, Nols, Khieus, etc. were flooding local groceries for this once unwanted part...which, btw, run about $4.00/lb. now.

you just can't microwave the things...got a few hours?

short ribs can be a good substitute (at least they're way cheaper), but they can't match the flavor of oxtail...sigh.