Korean Braised Oxtail or Kkori Jjim is a rich, umami-filled braised dish served on special occasions in Korea. It takes a long time to make and uses several Asian pantry essentials, but it is worth the time and effort to make.
Oxtail used to be one of the cheapest cuts of meat. It is common to use this for bone broths or have a few lumps of its meat be used to stretch a vegetable dish. This way we will put no parts to waste!
Nowadays, oxtail is considered gourmet, so this is definitely not a broke boyz meal. However, we’ll be knocking two birds with one stone and we’ll make two tasty dishes: Kkorijjim and Kkori Gomtang.
The Soup Base: Kkori Gomtang
To prepare, soak the oxtail in cold water for two hours minimum. This will remove all the excess blood in the meat. After soaking, boil the meat on high for 10 minutes to further clean the meat.
This step has always been the way my parents, the OG chefs, have taught me. This process will not remove any flavor, instead, it will remove any impurities and odor coming from the oxtail.
The flavor does not fully come out in the first 10 minutes of boiling but in the hours and hours of simmering. When you boil the oxtail for a long time, what happens is that the marrow and collagen break down. With that, you get a vibrant and tasty broth. And the proof? You can literally blow through the bones, so you know that’s where all the flavor comes from.
In this process, you will produce Korean Oxtail Soup or kkori gomtang. Check out my blog post to learn my tips and tricks for making it. We’ll be using a part of this broth as a base to make the braised oxtail, and you can save the rest and keep them in the fridge. Use it in dumpling soups, Beef & Radish Soup, Braised Short Ribs, hotpots, or even ramen noodles! Just imagine having such a nourishing soup base for all your other dishes~
The Braised Oxtail: Kkori Jjim
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From the Oxtail soup, we’ll be using 5 cups to make the braise. Transfer the big chunks of meat and the broth to another deep pot. Leave the small oxtail bones and let the gomtang simmer for 12 to 24 hours.
For the braising sauce, several key ingredients make it succulent and tasty. A complementing combination of umami, sweetness, spice, freshness, and zing all make the dish super good!
- Soy Sauce. Use light or regular soy sauce. This is the main base of the braise, which will give a beautiful amber color and umami taste to the dish.
- Sugar. The original way is to use sugar because it beautifully caramelizes the dish. If you find it a bit too much for the recipe, you can use sugar substitutes or a combination of sugar and honey.
- Blended garlic, onion, ginger, and Korean pear. This is where all the additional flavor will come from. It will give freshness, sweetness, and zing. If Korean pear is not available, you can use regular pear. If allergic to any one of these, feel free to add more of the others.
- Cinnamon Stick. Use only a third but real cinnamon stick to give the dish spice.
- Korean Radish. Chop the radish to bite-size. This will give a refreshing taste to the sauce. If it’s not available, you can sub it with some daikon.
- Sake or Soju. The Korean version of putting wine in braised dishes. This complements soy-based dishes very well. Sake or soju can be found in liqueur stores or Asian groceries.
- Mirin. This sweet cooking wine which turns the sauce into a beautiful glaze when you cook it down.
Additionally, we add vegetables not only to make the flavor deeper but also to soak up the sauce and become great vessels for it!
- Potatoes. Acts as a natural thickener for the sauce.
- Carrots. Adds sweetness to the dish.
- Shiitake Mushrooms. You can use either dried or regular shiitake mushrooms. You can find both in Asian grocery stores or in the fresh produce sections of supermarkets. This will give natural umami to the dish.
- Jujubee. Jujubee are dried dates. I usually use a dehydrated date since it’s more common in Asian grocery stores, but dried and pitted dates that are found in the US are also okay. As long as it is plain and non-flavored, you can use it too! It’s a natural sweetener for the sauce.
- Chestnuts. I used raw chestnuts to give earthiness and nuttiness to the dish.
After the gomtang process, you can literally chop and dump all the ingredients in the braising pot. Let it simmer for 30 minutes until the vegetables and the meat are fork-tender. Make sure not to overcook to keep the meat intact.
Serve Korean Braised Oxtail with plain rice or multigrain rice and any side dish, but best with kimchi or kkakduggi! Enjoy!
Korean Braised Oxtail in Instant Pot
People ask whether Kkori Jjim can be made in a pressure cooker or slow cooker. Of course! It’s just that I haven’t tried it out. I’ve always done this in the restaurant in big batches stove top. To me, flavors are richer when you cook them for hours. However, you can refer to this recipe from Korean Bapsang for other means of cooking.
Other classic Korean dishes:
- Ginseng Chicken Soup
- Spicy Chicken Stew
- Sweet and Sour Pork
- Korean Boiled Pork
- LA Galbi
- Beef Bulgogi
Make sure to leave a rating, a comment, or tag me on Facebook, Instagram, or Tiktok when you chop them up! Yeobosayo!
Korean Braised Oxtail (Kkori Jjim)
Equipment
- 2 Heavy Bottom Pot
- Blender
Ingredients
- 3 lbs Oxtail
Oxtail Braising Sauce
- 5 cups Oxtail Broth
- 3/4 cups Soy Sauce
- 2/3 cup Sugar
- Black Pepper To taste
- 1/3 of Cinnamon Stick
- 170 grams Korean Radish Chopped to bite size
- 2 stalks Scallions Sliced 3-inch long
- 5 tbsp Sake or Soju
- 5 tbsp Mirin
- 30 grams Garlic
- 5 grams Ginger
- 80 grams Korean Pear
- 40 grams Onion
- Pinch of MSG Optional
Vegetables
- 1 pc Potato Cut into bite size
- 1 pc Carrots Cut into bite size
- 8 pcs Shiitake Mushrooms Cut into bite size
- 7 pcs Jujubee
- 8-10 pcs Raw Chestnuts
Instructions
- Soak the oxtail in water for a minimum of 2 hours to remove the iron in the meat. Drain and place in a heavy bottom pot.
- Put water in the pot and boil the oxtail on high heat for 10 minutes then drain again to remove all the impurities from the meat.
- Fill the pot back up with water and bring it up to boil again. Once boiling, turn the heat to medium and let the oxtail boil for 2-3 hours.
- Keep checking back every hour and add more water leaving an inch from the brim when it reduces. Make sure to remove the scum and oil that floats on top.
- After 2-3 hours of boiling, place 5 cups of the broth and the big chunks of oxtail in another heavy bottom pot. Let the remaining broth boil for 12-24 hours, check this blog post for more instructions.
- In the other pot, to make the braised oxtail, put soy sauce, sugar, pepper, cinnamon stick, Korean radish, scallions, soju, mirin, and MSG. Mix well.
- Blend garlic, onion, ginger, and pear, then add to the pot.
- Place potatoes, carrots, mushrooms, jujubee, and chestnuts in the pot as well.
- Mix then cover and let the oxtail braise for 30 minutes until the meat and vegetables are fork-tender.
- Before plating, remove any oil floating on top of the dish.
- Serve with rice and kimchi. Enjoy!
Yummy 😋 😋
The recipe here is very easy. But the ingredients section confused me. Overall thanks.