Eight hours of low-and-slow is the only way it works. Skipping that is the first sign someone is faking it.
Eight hours of low-and-slow is the only way it works. There is no shortcut. Pressure cooker oxtail is a different dish entirely – tender in the wrong way, the collagen not given enough time to break down and re-set into that particular sticky, unctuous texture that is the whole point.
We start at four in the morning when we have a festival day. By midday the oxtail has been in the pot for eight hours. By the time the queue forms it has rested for another hour. That rest matters as much as the cooking time.
The Ingredients That Cannot Be Compromised
Scotch bonnet is non-negotiable. Habanero will do in an emergency but it is the wrong flavour profile – brighter, sharper, lacking the fruity depth of the scotch bonnet. We use four peppers per pot. Not three. Not five. Four, whole, seeds in.
Browning is the other thing people skip. Caramelise the oxtail pieces properly before any liquid goes in – twenty minutes on high heat, working in batches, turning every four minutes. Rushing this step is where most oxtail stew goes wrong.