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slow cooker meals

Easy Crockpot Oxtail Stew Will Impress Your Guests

August 5, 2024 By Eleanor Hoh Leave a Comment

Want to impress your guests with an unforgettable meal? Make two batches of this easy Crockpot Oxtail Stew and you’ll definitely impress your guests! I realized I didn’t include a side of starchy carbs to soak up the gravy, but nobody complained—ha, ha! Some quinoa would go well with the Crockpot Oxtail Stew. The stir-fried Chinese broccoli paired perfectly. I’ve included the Appetizer and Dessert Ideas for a well rounded 3-course dinner party, enjoy.

Do share in comments if you’ve cooked Crockpot Oxtail Stew or if you’d try now you know how!

Crockpot Oxtail Stew with Stir Fry Chinese Broccoli

This Crockpot Oxtail Stew is a classic, and it turns out perfect every time. It’s slow-cooked in a crockpot for about 8 hours, ensuring tender, flavorful meat.

As you know, I don’t do recipes. Instead, I provide tips and techniques to create mouthwatering dishes. 

Appetizer Idea

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is ingredients-eggplant-copy.jpeg
Garlic, Ginger, bell
Stir Fry Eggplant
Tamari, Sherry, Lime
Eggplant Appetizer

For a delicious appetizer, stir-fry eggplant using the glazing technique. Add red bell pepper, cilantro and scallions for color and garnish. This dish was very well received. Use 6″ round plate for best presentation. I just ordered these lovely plates myself.

Tips for Making Best Crockpot Oxtail Stew

Follow these tips, and you’ll succeed in making the BEST CROCKPOT OXTAIL STEW for your dinner party…

1. The Best Deal
– Purchase oxtails from Costco. They come in two pouches, and two lots of two pouches are perfect for serving 7 people.

2. Essential Vegetables per batch, you’ll need:
– 3 sticks of celery
– 1 big onion
– 1 red bell pepper
– 1 big carrot
– 3 tomatoes
– 4-6 cloves of garlic
– A big thumb-sized piece of ginger

3. Tomatoes are a Must
– Tomatoes add a beautiful red color and sweetness to the stew. Most people use tomato paste, but I find fresh tomatoes work perfectly.

4. Layering the Ingredients
– Start by placing the oxtail at the bottom of the crockpot, then add all the vegetables on top.

5. Seasoning for Flavor
– Use tamari instead of salt, unless you prefer Celtic sea salt.
– Add any red wine you have lying around or medium drinking sherry
– Season with black pepper to taste.

6. The Right Stock
– Use Costco Kirkland Chicken Stock. Pour enough to cover the oxtails but not to the top, as the vegetables will release their juices.

7. Slow and Steady
– Set the crockpot to LOW and leave it alone. I start it right before going to bed and set an alarm for 8 hours to check for tenderness. I only use a manual crockpot not an Instapot for best results.

8. Checking for Doneness
– When your fork can pierce the meat easily, it’s done.

9. Cooking in Batches
– I cook the first batch the night before the dinner party. The next morning, I transfer to a stainless steel pot and refrigerate. Then the second batch is ready for the crockpot.

10. Perfect Side Dish
– If you can’t get Chinese broccoli, Western broccoli works just as well. Using the glazing technique results in perfect tenderness yet still crunchy.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is tomatoes-celery-oxtail-copy.jpeg
Oxtail, celery, tomatoes
garlic, onions
ginger, carrots, red bell
carrots, bell, onions
after 8 hours
reheat in stainless pot
Chinese Broccoli
slice diagonally

Dessert & Drink Ideas

I always ask friends to bring whatever they like to drink to relieve me of figuring that out. Also, I don’t make dessert and like to serve fresh fruit. My guests brought wines and prosecco and also a lovely bundt cake, it teamed up with my fruits really well.

dragon fruit, rambutan
cherries, bundt cake
bundt cake, dragon fruit, rambutan

A Wok Star means creating yummy dishes with what you have, no recipes or measuring required. When you focus on Flavors, Textures, Colors, it’s EASY!
Visit Cook Like a Wok Star and you’ll understand why I do what I do. 

Filed Under: blog, slow cooker meals Tagged With: crockpot meals, crockpot oxtail stew, dinner ideas, dinner parties, easy crockpot meals, oxtail stew, slow cooker meals

Slow Cooker Pork Rib Stew, Served 3 Ways

September 18, 2020 By Eleanor Hoh Leave a Comment

This Slow Cooker Pork Rib Stew, served 3 ways means you don’t have to cook from scratch for 3 nights.  I’m a huge fan of using a Slow Cooker, I cannot get used to the Instant Pot mentality, more about this later. A Slow Cooker is so practical and efficient in getting dinner on the table. It’s a huge time saver, locks in the flavors and keeps meat moist and tender.

Pork Ribs, Stir Fry Mixed Veggies, homemade Kimchi

Instead of ‘recipes’, I like to focus on Flavors, Textures and Colors. So, here’s how to tackle the Slow Cooker Pork Rib Stew.

About Ingredients…
1 Onion, chopped or half moons
4-6 cloves garlic, thwacked
Thumb size ginger, thwacked
1- 2 carrots, chopped biggish chunks
4-6 dried shiitakes (from Earthy Delights in your Wok Star Kit) directions how to rehydrate is on the label.
Chicken Broth, halfway up the meat 

About Pork Ribs…
3-4 lbs. of pork ribs.
They will be your favorite cut of meat, it’s juicy, meaty and so versatile. I get them cut across the bones so they are smaller and easier to handle and they’re called riblets. Available from Costco or Asian markets. Cut the riblets into individual pieces, see photo below. Fill slow cooker half way.  

About Flavorings…
Basic Seasonings: TSPC.  Wok Stars, you know what these are. Newbies, it’s Tamari, Sherry, Pepper, Cornstarch
2 tsp. each of Brown Bean Sauce (from Koon Chun in your Wok Star Kit) and Huy Fong Chili Garlic Sauce.

Here’s HOW…

  1. Set slow cooker on LOW before prepping. This will give it a head start. Set your timer for 3 1/2 hours. 
  2. Add pork riblets at bottom then veggies, garlic & ginger and broth into slow cooker.
  3. In a bowl, mix TSPC and extra flavorings. Add into slow cooker. I LOVE the smells wafting through my apartment. This is what the Insta Pot doesn’t allow, no smells and you cannot peek in there for tasting and adjusting flavors. For me, cooking is about LAYERING flavors. You can’t do anything until you’ve released the pressure which takes another half an hour. 
  4. When time is up, test a piece of pork riblet and adjust flavorings, to see if it’s the texture you like, if you like softer, let it cook for another half hour. 
Add pork riblets, then onions, garlic & ginger, carrots, mushrooms. Then chicken broth, flavorings.

Serving suggestions…
You’ll just need to serve reheated pork riblet stew and stir fry or blanche some veggies. So easy, dinner in about 15 minutes or less.  

Allocate about 3-5 pieces of pork riblets per person. Spoon onions, carrots and sauce over the riblets. 

I like to add some homemade kimchi and garnish with chili threads, chopped scallions and cilantro, they just give a pop of color and adds freshness to the finished dish. 

Don’t you love the 3 ways I served this Slow Cooker Pork Rib Stew? 
If you try this Slow Cooker Pork Rib Stew, please take a photo and tag @wokstar on Instagram,
I would love to see how you present yours.

First night: Pork Ribs, Stir Fry Mixed Veggies, homemade Kimchi
2nd night: added mustard greens when reheating pork rib stew
3rd night: Blanched Brussels Sprouts and displayed carrots, mushrooms separately for a different look and presented pork ribs on bed of quinoa. 

Filed Under: blog, Easy Weeknight Dinners, pork, slow cooker meals Tagged With: "easy weeknight dinners", crock pot dinners, pork rib stew, slow cooker meals, slow cooker pork ribs

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