Oxtail Soup
In Chinese Medicine herbs and food are categorized by their temperature, flavor, texture, and even color. These properties give a clue to the healing nature of the herb. This concept is called “doctrine of signatures” and if we look around, we can find examples in the foods and plants around us. For instance, beets are red so they are good for building the blood; walnuts look like little brains, so eating them promotes good cognitive function.
Another example is that eating dishes made with animal bone is good for bone health. The theory is since bones contain iron and minerals, cooking with them will leach these nutrients into the food and by extension nourish the person’s body. This is essentially what you’ve been doing when you made homemade chicken broth and boiled the chicken carcass or added a ham bone to split pea soup. Another recipe example is oxtail soup.
Ingredients:
- 10 cups water (broth ok)
- 2-3 lbs oxtail (if hard to find use pork or beef bone)
- 4 tomatoes chopped
- 2 celery ribs sliced
- 2 carrots sliced
- 1 onion chopped
- 1 bay leaf
- ¼ cup barley
- Salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
- Bring 10 c of water to boil
- Add the oxtails, tomatoes, celery, carrots, onion, and bay leaf
- Return to a boil, and then turn the heat to low and simmer for 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.
- Add the barley and simmer on low for one hour longer
- Serve the oxtail on the side, or shred the meat from the bone add it back to the soup
- Enjoy the hearty stew full of iron and minerals!