Chinese Oxtail Soup

By Lee Jackson ↣ Published on: February 8, 2021

Last Updated: February 27th, 20242 Comments on Chinese Oxtail Soup

For a big slurpy, sticky bowl of goodness, this Chinese Oxtail soup with noodles is everything you need and more. A super tasty bone broth delivers a meaty, life-giving hit of flavour and with melty oxtails and soft noodles, it’s a dish that keeps on giving.

Chinese soup with noodles and slowly cooked beef oxtails.

Chinese Oxtail Soup is one of the dishes I crave when I'm a little under the weather. By 'under the weather' this can mean genuinely sick or just 'meh'. It has restorative superpowers to lift the dullest of spirits. Meaty, sticky broth that is packed with flavour from the juicy, soft meat from the oxtail. And with the addition of soft noodles I find myself like a new human after a few delicious spoonfuls.

My recipe makes things easy (and faster) by using the Instant Pot. I have also included the how-to using a stove-top, you'll just have to wait a little longer.

What is Oxtail soup?

I just love Oxtails - Maybe because I was born in the Chinese year of the Ox, but nevertheless they're an amazing ingredient in stocks, soups and stews - you can extract a huge amount of flavour from this often overlooked cut of beef. There's a lot of cartilage and some bone, and also only a little meat - but it's the best of all worlds for drawing out the maximum flavour of beef - a sweet and sticky elixir.

Raw oxtails for Chinese Oxtail Soup

Why it works

My Chinese Oxtail Noodle soup uses a simple roll-call of ingredients. Each brings an essential component to compliment the rich, meaty oxtails and when cooked no one ingredient dominates - the broth is a harmonious, fragrant blend. The use of Sichuan peppercorns brings a sweet, peppery note to the broth, with a slight nod to its unique numbing quality - it's magical! And the dark soy enhances the wonderful rich dark broth while bringing a rounded saltiness.

Stuff you'll need

My Chinese oxtail soup recipe has easy-to-find ingredients. And when combined, they'll enhance the deep umami of the bone broth. Other

  • Oxtails (see above) - the backbone to the soup.
  • Onion, ginger and garlic will bring their aromatic goodness to the soup.
  • Star anise brings its unique floral aniseed flavour for that authentic Chinese taste.
  • Sichuan peppercorns bring a peppery warmth with their unique mouth numbing magic. Addictive!
  • Salt & pepper balances out the favours (don't add too much salt as the soy sauce is also salty).
The ingredients for Chinese Oxtail Soup: ginger, garlic, pepper, soy sauce, salt & pepper, star anise and Sichuan peppercorns.

Step by Step

Introductory sentence + process shots below

  1. Step 1 - Roast the oxtails for 30 minutes. This will caramelise them a little and add to the flavour and colour of the broth.
  2. Step 2 - Add all the soup ingredients to the pan and cook at pressure for 2 hours (this long means ALL the potential flavour is extracted). If you're using a regular stove top, very gently simmer (covered) for 3-4 hours.
  3. Step 3 - Remove the meat and set aside.
  4. Step 4 - Drain the soup and discard the solids.
  5. Step 5 - Pick apart the oxtails keeping the meat and discarding everything else.
  6. Step 6 - Cook your noodles and place a few in a soup bowl. Add a little meat on top then spoon over some of the broth. Garnish with the spring onion and that's it!
Raw oxtails for Chinese Oxtail Soup
Adding all the soup ingredients to an Instant pot for Chinese Oxtail Soup
Removing the oxtails from the bone broth for Chinese Oxtail Soup
Draining the soup through a sieve for Chinese Oxtail Soup
Picking the meat off the oxtails for Chinese Oxtail Soup
Pouring the bone broth over noodles and oxtail meat for Chinese Oxtail Soup

Pro Tips to make your life easier

  • If you're short on time, 1 hour in the pressure cooker (2-3 on the stove) is long enough to extract a good flavour, so you CAN cut time down a bit.
  • To get even more flavour into the soup, use a couple of beef bones too.
  • Cook the noodles separately - don't cook them in the broth as they'll release starch and make it cloudy.
  • If you're simmering on the stove-top, simmer very gently - this ensures a cleaner, clearer broth.
  • If you like, sieve the broth through muslin to catch as many impurities as you can.
  • Make the soup in advance and assemble when you need it.
Chinese soup with noodles and slowly cooked beef oxtails.

Serving and storing suggestions

Serving

  • Serve in a bowl garnished with the spring onion scattered on top. Best served hot!
  • Add some Asian greens to the soup like Bok Choy, Chinese Celery etc.
  • Add turnip and carrot to the soup - they're delicious. Either cook them separately, or in the drained broth until soft.

Substitutions

  • If you can't get rice noodles, use flour or egg noodles. You can also ABSOLUTELY use Italian flour noodles, i.e. spaghetti!
  • If you can't get oxtails, just use beef bones. You won't have the meat component at the end, but you'll have all the flavour!
  • You can also make this soup using pork bones or ribs for a pork version. You could also try my delicious recipe for Pork Rib Soup with Noodles.

Storage

  • Fridge: The broth and meat will stay fresh in the fridge for about a week in airtight containers. Don't refrigerate with the noodles in the soup. They'll become too soft and a bit gross. Best to use fresh noodles when you reheat the broth.
  • Freezer: Freeze the broth and meat (together or separately) in a container and it'll stay good for 3+ months. Again, fresh noodles are best for the soup, so don't freeze them in the broth.
Chinese soup with noodles and slowly cooked beef oxtails.

Ready to get cooking?

Once you sample this delicious Chinese oxtail soup recipe, you'll make it all year round, but especially when you need a little warmth in your life. Umami, sticky broth that's bursting with flavour. It's a wonderful way to fill up with the soft noodles and flecks of tender meat. It might just be my favourite Chinese soup. What do you think?

Any Questions? (FAQ)

Have a question about my Chinese oxtail soup? Let me know in the comments.

What nationality is oxtail soup?

Oxtails are cooked in soups all across the world. Each country has their own special variety of oxtail soup. From the UK, to Europe, Asia and beyond. My Chinese oxtail soup recipe uses flavours unique to Chinese cooking.

Is oxtail a cheap meat?

Unfortunately not. In recent years the price of oxtails (once a very cheap cut) has risen. Chinese adore oxtails, quite rightly and demand is high. Another factor is that oxtails require an additional processing, so this might also factor into the higher price. Most likely, is that the producers saw a potential for a large profit margin so artificially created a 'premium' product out of thin air!

Chinese soup with noodles and slowly cooked beef oxtails.

Chinese Oxtail Soup

Rate this recipe

5 from 9 votes
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Recipe by Lee
Course Main Course
Cuisine Chinese
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time2 hours 30 minutes
Total Time2 hours 40 minutes
Servings (adjustable) 4
Calories (per serving) | 594

Video Recipe

Ingredients

For the broth

Other ingredients

  • noodles (rice, egg or flour noodles - you choose)
  • 3 spring onions finely sliced

Instructions

To make the broth

  • Preheat oven to 200ºC/395ºF
  • Place the oxtails on a roasting tray and roast for 30 minutes, turning once after 15 minutes.

For Instant Pot

  • Place the oxtails into the Instant Pot along with all the other broth ingredients. Pour over 8 cups of water. Attach the lid, set to high pressure cook for 2 hours.
  • After 2 hours, release the pressure and carefully remove the meat from the pan to cool.

For stove top

  • Place the oxtails into a large casserole pan with all the other broth ingredients. Pour over 8 cups of water. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to very low, so that the liquid is barely simmering. Simmer very gently, covered, for 6 hours.
  • Carefully remove the meat from the pan and leave it to cool.

Finishing the soup

  • Using a fine mesh sieve, strain the soup and discard the solids. If you have a lot of fat on top, you can skim this off with a spoon or use a gravy separator (these are marvellous). Keep the broth warm on a low heat.
  • Once the meat has cooled enough to handle, pick apart the meat from the fat, bone and cartilage. Keep the meat, discard everything else. Set aside.
  • Cook your noodles to the packet instructions. Once cooked, drain and place a small mound in the centre of an Asian soup bowl or deep soup bowl then pop on top a little meat.
  • Add 4-5 ladles of piping hot broth per person and then sprinkle over some spring onion. That's it! Enjoy!

Notes

Serving
  • Serve hot garnished with the spring onion scattered on top.
  • Add Asian greens to the soup.e.g. Bok Choy or Chinese Celery
  • Add turnip and carrot. Either cook them separately, or in the drained broth until soft.
Substitutions
  • You can use flour or egg noodles instead of rice noodles.
  • If you can't get oxtails, use beef bones.
  • You can make a pork version of the soup by using pork bones or ribs.
Storage
  • Fridge: The broth and meat will stay fresh in the fridge for about a week in airtight containers.
  • Freezer: Freeze the broth and meat (together or separately) in a container and it'll stay good for 3+ months. 
  • The noodles are best eaten fresh and will not be great in texture if left in the soup. I would recommend only refrigerating or freezing the broth and meat and not the noodles. Cook noodles fresh when you want to eat the soup.

Nutrition

Calories: 594kcal (30%) | Carbohydrates: 7g (2%) | Protein: 72g (144%) | Fat: 30g (46%) | Saturated Fat: 12g (75%) | Cholesterol: 249mg (83%) | Sodium: 1528mg (66%) | Potassium: 129mg (4%) | Fiber: 2g (8%) | Sugar: 2g (2%) | Vitamin A: 103IU (2%) | Vitamin C: 5mg (6%) | Calcium: 78mg (8%) | Iron: 10mg (56%)
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