Braised Ox Head

Name: Braised Ox Head
Prep time: 1 h
Cook time: 1 h 30 min
Total time: 2 h 30 min
Ingredients: 1 Ox head (saw off horns, scorch skin, scrape off all hair roots, boil then debone keeping whole); 1 Hen (remove internal organs, wash, chop into chunks); 50 g Dried scallops (rinse off sand); 500 g Ham (scrub clean with hot alkaline water, cut into chunks); 50 g Fresh mushrooms (wash, remove stems); 500 g Bok choy hearts (remove roots, peel off thin outer skin, remove tough fibers, quarter); 50 g Scallions (cut into sections); 25 g Ginger (slice or mince); 30 g Fine salt; 25 g Caramel color (adjust to light red); 25 g Cooking wine; 25 g Sesame oil; 50 g Soybean oil; 5 g MSG

A classic traditional Korean dish: after singeing off hair from the ox head, deboning and cleaning it thoroughly, simmer the ox head together with hen and ham until tender and falling apart, yielding a rich, glossy sauce.

2h 30m

Easy

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Ingredients

Ox head (saw off horns, scorch skin, scrape off all hair roots, boil then debone keeping whole) 1

Hen (remove internal organs, wash, chop into chunks) 1

Dried scallops (rinse off sand) 50 g

Ham (scrub clean with hot alkaline water, cut into chunks) 500 g

Fresh mushrooms (wash, remove stems) 50 g

Bok choy hearts (remove roots, peel off thin outer skin, remove tough fibers, quarter) 500 g

Scallions (cut into sections) 50 g

Ginger (slice or mince) 25 g

Fine salt 30 g

Caramel color (adjust to light red) 25 g

Cooking wine 25 g

Sesame oil 25 g

Soybean oil 50 g

MSG 5 g

Instructions

Prepare Ox Head

First, saw off the ox horns. Place the whole head over an open flame to scorch the skin surface, then scrape off the charred layer with a knife. Check if all hair roots have been burnt, and continue scorching and scraping until no hair roots remain (start scorching from the top when doing this, and take extra care not to burn through the skin). After scorching and scraping, soak in water to soften, then scrape off all remaining charred material. Place the whole head in a pot and boil until the bones can be removed (when deboning, keep the ox head skin and meat intact, do not break them). After deboning, soak in water again and scrape clean once more, trimming off any unclean edges and broken bits.

Prepare Ox Tongue

Peel the skin off the ox tongue. Cut both the head meat and tongue into rectangles 6 cm long and 3 cm wide. Boil the ox head and tongue 2 to 3 times in boiling water with scallions, ginger, and cooking wine. Rinse with cold water after each boil, then soak in cold water.

Prepare Auxiliary Ingredients

Scrub the ham clean with hot alkaline water and cut into chunks; rinse the dried scallops to remove sand; wash the fresh mushrooms and remove stems; trim the roots off the bok choy hearts, peel off the thin outer skin, remove tough fibers and quarter them; remove the internal organs from the hen, wash it, and chop into chunks.

Blanch Bok Choy Hearts and Hen

Blanch the bok choy hearts and hen separately in boiling water until cooked through, remove from the water, and rinse thoroughly with cold water.

Make Broth

Fill a stew pot with clean water, add the hen, ham, dried scallops, fresh mushrooms, scallion sections, and ginger pieces. Bring to a boil and skim off all foam. Once the broth is ready, strain it to remove solids, take out the hen and ham ingredients for other use.

Braise and Reduce Sauce

Heat a wok, add soybean oil and heat through. Add scallion sections and minced ginger and stir-fry. Pour in the prepared chicken broth, salt, caramel color (adjusted to light red), cooking wine, ox head meat, and ox tongue. Taste and adjust seasoning, bring to a boil and skim off foam. Transfer to a stew pot, simmer over medium heat until the ox head meat is tender and the sauce is thick. Take out the ox head meat and arrange neatly on a plate. Continue to reduce the sauce until thicker, add MSG and sesame oil, mix well, and pour over the ox head. At the same time, cook the bok choy hearts in good broth, arrange them around the edge of the plate, and serve.