Oxtail Instead Of Short Ribs

Asked by Honey59. Answered on 2nd November 2016

Full question

I live in France and have had problems obtaining the short ribs of beef for the Asian-Flavoured Short Ribs recipe. Would this recipe work equally well with oxtail?

Our answer

Nigella's Asian-Flavoured Short Ribs (from SIMPLY NIGELLA) are slowly cooked beef ribs, sometimes called short ribs. This cut of meat is usually sold as "pot au feu" in France, though if it is in a package marked as "mijoter" it may be mixed with other cuts of beef. If you speak to a friendly butcher then he should be able to sell you just the ribs, and also cut them in half crosswise into 4-5cm squares, otherwise they are quite large and will take a lot longer to cook.

Oxtail is a cut of meat suitable for slow cooking and is on the bone. However the meat in the oxtail will probably shred much more easily than the short ribs, which will change the texture of the dish. Beef shank, or jarret, may be a slightly better alternative as it is usually sold in slices on the bone ("jarret avec os") and will not shred quite as easily as oxtail, though the meat will start to fall off the bone. We would also suggest checking the dish after 3 hours of cooking as the shin is usually sold in slices and may cook more quickly than the ribs.