Sup Ekor (Malaysian oxtail soup)

With every new Malaysian recipe I make, I find that I am delightfully surprised all over again.  Last night was no exception!
My friend Adam, who lives in Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia, gave me a list of soups to try this past week.  Looking up several recipes (Malaysian ingredients are not easy to find even in the Bay Area where there is a large Southeast Asian population) I settled on Sup Ekor, Malaysian oxtail soup and, as I stated above, I was not disappointed.  The fact that it made the entire house smell amazingly fragrant during the cooking process would have been reason enough to make it.  And I hope you will make it and enjoy it just as I did.







Sup Ekor


1 pound oxtail s(chopped into large pieces)
Half a head of Garlic
1 small onion
3 whole cloves
1 Lemongrass stalk (bashed and sliced)
1 thick slice of Ginger (sliced)
3 green Cardamoms
2 Star anises
1 Cinnamon bark
2 teasp ground Coriander
1 Tsp ground Cumin
2 tsp Peppercorns
2 Potatoes (cubed largely)
2 large carrots (sliced into large chunks)
1 Celery stalk (sliced into 3s)
3 Plum Tomatoes (halved)
2 tbsp concentrated Tomato paste
Salt to taste
Fresh Chillis
Fresh Coriander leaves
Fried Shallots

In a food processor, make a paste of the onion, ginger, garlic and lemongrass. Fry the paste in some oil along with the spices and oxtails. Add potatoes, carrots and celery and enough hot water to cover and summer covered on low for 1 hour.

Add the fresh tomatoes followed by the tomato paste. Then salt to taste. Cover and simmer for another hour or till the meat is melt-in-the-mouth.

Garnish with fresh coriander leaves, chillis and fried shallots and serve hot with rice.