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Malaysian-style Oxtail Soup

A hearty soup made with oxtails, onion, garlic, cilantro, cinnamon, cumin, coriander, chili, ginger, and beef broth.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 14 ingredients
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Why it works: Clove and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,189 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓

Malaysian-style Oxtail Soup

Time2 hours

Ingredients

Directions

Make the broth

  1. Place the oxtails, onion, garlic, cilantro sprigs, cinnamon stick, cumin, coriander, and chile in a heavy soup pot.

  2. Add the broth and water to cover the ingredients by 1 1/2 inches.

  3. Bring to just a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer covered for 2 hours, skimming any foam that rises to the surface.

  4. Season with salt and pepper and cook uncovered for another 15 minutes.

  5. Remove from the heat.

Strain and degrease

  1. Remove the oxtails and shred the meat from the bones, discarding the bones and any fat.

  2. Set the meat aside.

  3. Strain the broth through a very fine strainer.

  4. Cool for at least 1 hour so that the fat rises to the top.

  5. Skim off all the fat and discard.

  6. Return the broth to the soup pot.

Finish the soup

  1. Add the ginger and slivered garlic.

  2. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer for 10 minutes.

  3. Return the shredded meat to the broth and cook another 5 minutes.

  4. Stir in the cilantro and cook 1 minute longer.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

329Calories
28 gProtein
16 gFat
17 gCarbs

Counts 10 of 13 ingredients. The other 3 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 10 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Beef100g cooked250
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Cumin1 tsp ground (2.1g)8
Chili1 tsp (2.7g)8
Cinnamon1 tsp ground (2.6g)6
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Ginger1 tsp grated fresh (2g)2
Cilantro1 tbsp chopped fresh (1g)1
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Coriandernot in our table0
Seednot in our table0
Waternot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Clove + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,189 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  2. Cumin + coriandertop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,866 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  3. Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together29,058 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  4. Cinnamon + cumintop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,103 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-methoxybenzaldehyde (sweet, anise).

  5. Garlic + cumintop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,082 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Oxtails
Collagen from the bones and connective tissue enriches the broth and makes the meat tender after long simmering.
Beef broth
Forms the liquid base of the soup and carries the flavor of the aromatics.
Fresh ginger
Adds a warm, sharp aroma that brightens the rich, fatty broth.
Garlic
Contributes pungent aroma that mellows and sweetens as it cooks in the broth.
Ground cumin
Adds earthy, warm aroma that gives the broth its characteristic spice profile.

The step that matters

Chilling and skimming the broth. Fat rises and solidifies as the broth cools. Removing it fully before reheating keeps the soup clean-tasting and prevents a greasy mouthfeel. Straining through a very fine strainer first removes small solids that would otherwise cloud the broth.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (clove, garlic, cinnamon, cumin, coriander, beef, pepper):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Carrotfits better
  3. Tomatofits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against clove, garlic, cinnamon, cumin, coriander, beef, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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