Try a different spin on a Jamaican classic with these oxtail tacos featuring ackees done in two ways.
Brown-stewed oxtails with butter beans are a Jamaican favourite.
You can find me, pinkies pointing out, nibbling at the cartilage and slurping all the gravy from the bone! Shameless! Yes, I know. See exhibit A below:
Chantal and the oxtail, no shame in her game 😆 @ Star Grill in Mandeville a few hours after landing
For these tacos I’ve taken the traditional recipe and transformed the butter beans into a silky puree using ackee and adding a touch or smoky flavour from roasted poblanos.
The spices on the oxtail remain the same but the meat is braised till fall of the bone tender. To contrast the richness, a quick pickle is made with red onions and ackee; then to finish, a few cilantro leaves.
A fun to eat twist on a classic, make all the elements ahead of time and you could have a fun build your own taco party
What do you think? What are some of your favourite taco combos? As always feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section below, if you make this or any of the recipes from the site, be sure to #amazingackee and @amazingackee so I can see your posts across social media.
Until next time, thanks for stopping by
Braised Oxtail
There’s a meme floating around that basically says Caribbean people don’t measure seasoning, they simply shake till they hear the whisper of their ancestors saying “that’s enough my child”. I will admit that this statement is 100% accurate for me which is counter to everything I do as a baker since precision there is key. All this is said to say, the recipes below is a guide and can and should be adjusted to suit your palate. If I have a bottle of red wine open or a bottle of stout (Guinness or Dragon Stout) I typically use that and lessen the stock. Finally, I usually use store bought browning, but when I don’t have it, I make my own by heating brown sugar in the pot first, which is described below
Ingredients
- 2 lbs Oxtail
Overnight seasoning:
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1/2 tsp Celery Salt
- 1/4 tsp Cayenne Pepper
- 1/4 tsp Paprika
- 1 tsp Garlic powder
- 1 tsp Onion powder
- 3 cloves of Garlic finely minced
- Fresh ginger about an inch knob, finely grated
- Browning about a tablespoon if using
To cook:
- 1 1/2 tbsps Brown sugar if you don’t have store bought browning
- 1/2 large onion finely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic minced (optional - I love garlic)
- Few pimento Jamaican allspice grains
- 3 sprigs fresh thyme
- 2 stalks of escallion green onions sliced
- Scotch bonnet pepper to taste
- 1 quart Beef stock
- 3 tbsps tomato paste
- Salt & Pepper to taste
Instructions
- Place a heavy bottomed dutch pot over medium heat and spread brown sugar evenly.
- Cook until it starts smoking slightly and bubble, it will be very dark
- Quickly swirl the pan then add the oxtails (no oil is required as the oxtails are fatty)
- Mix to coat the oxtails in the browning, cook and allow the fat to render off the meat.
- Remove from the pan and set aside
- Cook onions and garlic till soft.
- If using any wine or stout, add it at this point. You could also use a mild good flavored vinegar (just a splash, this is to get the nice caramelized bits off the bottom of the pot)
- Return the meat to the pot then pour over the stock and remaining ingredients.
- Bring to a boil then turn down to a gentle simmer
- Allow to braise till tender, it should fall off the bone easily when gently prodded with a fork
- If you still have a lot of liquid remaining when the meat is tender, remove the oxtails from the pot and reduce the gravy till thick, pull the meat of the bones and add to the gravy.
- Remove the stalks from the thyme.
- Set aside till ready to assemble tacos
Silky Ackee & Butter Bean Puree
Ingredients
- 1 can Butter beans
- 1/8 tsp Baking soda
- 2 tbsps Water
- 1 1/2 cups Ackee parboiled or canned
- 2 tbsps Olive oil or coconut oil
- Garlic powder or fresh if you prefer - finely minced
- Granulated scotch bonnet pepper or fresh if you prefer - finely minced
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Place butter beans, water and baking soda in a shallow pot and simmer over low heat till all the water is absorbed (this is so the baking soda softens the skin of the beans)
- Puree the warm beans with the ackees, oil and spices till silky smooth
- Season to taste
Roasted Poblano Pepper(s)
I got one really large poblano pepper which was sufficient for the tacos and for me to have left overs. I like roasting peppers cause they add a little extra something to almost any dish. Any left overs usually get tossed into a breakfast egg scramble or even mixed with rice
Ingredients
- Poblano pepper(s)
- Oil as needed a high heat oil is best to use here, I used peanut oil
Instructions
- Turn on your broiler (if you have a gas stove, lucky lucky! You can do this on the stove top over the open flame)
- Rub the pepper all over with oil
- Place on a foil lined tray under the broiler and cook till the skin blisters turning occasionally so it cooks evenly.
- Remove from oven when done and pull foil over pepper(s) to cover loosely, this will create some steam which will make removing the skin easier
- When cool enough to handle, peel skin, remove seeds and chop finely.
- Fold into bean puree
Pickled Ackee & Onions
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup White vinegar
- 1 tsp Kosher salt
- 1 tbsp Cane sugar
- 1/2 red onion thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup ackee parboiled or canned (firmer is better)
Instructions
- Place the onions and ackees together in one bowl or separately into two bowls (I like to do this in separate bowls so I can grab exactly how much of each I like)
- Heat the vinegar, sugar and salt stirring till the sugar and salt dissolves. Be careful not to breathe in the fumes.
- Pour the the vinegar mixture over the onions and ackee
- Cover and let stand for at least 10 minutes
Assembly
Taco shells soft or crunchy depending on your preference (you can make up to 2 dozen small tacos from the amounts given, I just made a few and used the left over oxtail and beans in other dishes)
Ingredients
- 1 recipe Ackee Butter Bean Puree
- 1 recipe Braised Oxtails
- 1 recipe Pickled Ackees & Onions
- Cilantro optional
Instructions
- Warm up the taco shells according to package directions or if you’re awesome like that use homemade (yum!)
- Spread puree on top of prepared taco shell
- top with oxtail and some of the the pickled onions and ackee
- Sprinkle with cilantro if desired
- Enjoy!