Scratch-made braised oxtail wontons, in a savory beef broth, with tender bok choy, slivered carrot, and fresh green onion.
There is just something about wonton soup. The flavorful broth, tender noodles, and childhood memories! For me, it is total comfort food.
For this recipe, the oxtails pull double duty. The liquid from braising the oxtails becomes a flavorful soup broth. The tender oxtail meat gets shredded and seasoned to make a delicious wonton filling. The filling and the broth are the simple part of this dish. The difficult part is, of course, making the wontons.
Check out the video below for instructions on rolling, cutting, and forming the wontons.
This wonton dough uses bread flour. The gluten from the flour gives the wontons their chew. It also makes the dough harder to roll out. So, if you have a pasta roller, I would definitely use it.
I trimmed off a good bit of dough when making the three inch square wrappers. But I didn’t let it go to waste. I cut all the scraps into thick noodles, which I added into the broth with the wontons. Who could say no to a few extra noodles? Not me!
Oxtail Wonton Soup
Ingredients
Soup
- 2 pounds oxtails
- 3 carrots rough chopped
- 3 ribs celery rough chopped
- 2 inch ginger peeled and sliced
- 2 green onions rough chopped
- 1/2 tsp peppercorn
- 1/4 tsp coriander whole
- 1/2 stick cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp chili flake
- 1/2 cup sherry
- 1/3 cup soy sauce
- 14 cups water
- 3 each bok choy rough chopped
- 1 each green onion sliced thin
- 1 each carrot julienne or shredded
Oxtail Filling
- All oxtail meat shredded
- 2 tbsp green onion thin sliced
- 1 tbsp oyster sauce
- salt and pepper to taste
Wonton Wrappers
- 1 1/2 cup bread flour
- 2 eggs
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp water
- cornstarch as needed
Instructions
Soup
- Season oxtails with salt and pepper. Heat a large pot with 1 tbsp oil. Sear the oxtails on all sides. Remove from the pan and add the onion, celery, and carrot. Cook until the onions start to get soft and brown. Add sherry, soy sauce, water and spices. Add the oxtails back to the pot. Bring to a boil and reduce to a low simmer. Cook for 3 hours or until the oxtails are tender. Make the wonton wrappers.
- Remove the oxtails from the broth. Allow to cool slightly. Shred the meat, removing the bone, fat, and cartilage. Strain the broth and return to the pot.
- After the wontons have been made, bring the broth to a boil. Add the wontons, cook for one minute. Add the bok choy and carrots. Cook until the wonton and vegetables are tender. Season to taste. Garnish with green onions and serve.
Oxtail Filling
- Mix the cooled shredded oxtail with the green onions and oyster sauce. Season to taste.
Wonton Wrappers
- Combine flour and salt. Whisk eggs and water together and combine with the flour mixture. Knead the dough for 3-5 minutes. Divide, wrap, and rest for at least one hour.
- Roll out the dough using cornstarch. Cut the dough into 3 inch squares. Spoon 1 1/2 teaspoons of filling onto each wrapper. Brush the edges with water. Bring 2 edges together to form a triangle. Press and seal the edges. Dab water on the back side of a bottom corner. Press your thumb into the center to form a crease, while bringing the two corners together. Press the corners together to seal. The wet corner should be on top. Repeat until all of the wontons have been filled.
