by Casey Castona, Acupuncturist
Ingredients 3 pounds beef oxtail (if you like more meat you can add more 1 to 2 lbs. chopped beef) 3 teaspoons sea salt 1 large onion, chopped 1 small bag of frozen peas 1 small bag of frozen okra 1 Tablespoon whole black peppercorn 1 container of sweet cherry tomatoes Half a gallon of water Whole package of baby mushrooms 2 carrots, sliced 1 parsnip, sliced Directions: 1. Using a 5 gallon pot, heat Bacon oil or Grapeseed oil at 400 degrees. Add oxtail, salt, and whole peppercorn. 2. Sear the oxtail until the meat is brown and the pot has some browning for the meat on the bottom of the pot. 3. Add mushrooms and water to pot and cover for 4 to 6 hours on medium low. 4. Remove bones and separate meat and fat. 5. Add meat and fat back in. 6. Add onions, parsnips, and carrots. 7. Cook until vegetables are tender. 8. Add peas and okra and bring to a boil. 9. Turn off heat and add sweet cherry tomatoes. 10. Salt to taste.
This soup is high with levels of Glucosamine & Chondroitin. Within 30 minutes of eating this soup, you should notice your pain starting to decrease. Eat this when you crave it. This soup freezes well. Reheat in a pan, not a microwave.
When you boil ox-tail for a long time, tendons dissolve in the soup. Ox-tail marrow and tendons are very rich in minerals and they help repair bone and tendon injuries. A theory in Chinese Medicine is to use tendon to treat tendon. I was practicing Martial Arts and broke my hand hitting a bag wrong. On average my hand pain was 2 out of 10. And it would go up to 4 out of 10 after I re-injured it. I found this soup recipe from one of my classes in Oriental Medicine School, and I decided to try it. First of all it tastes like a beef stew. So, for all of you who are freaking out about the idea of ox-tail, don’t worry, it tastes Great! You will feel the energy coming from this food in minutes. Now back to pain in my hand. It took about 30 minutes for the pain to disappear all the way down to a 0 out of 10 after eating this soup. The pain did come back, but I would eat the soup again with the same results. So, I tell my patients if they want to try a natural way to manage their joint pain: Try this soup! I recommend you to freeze this soup in small containers for later. To make yourself feel better, just warm up some wonderful Ox-tail soup for you and your friends.
Casey Castona specializes in Pain Management and is trained in nine different styles of Acupuncture that do not use needles. More at (715) 379-6429; ac4wellness@gmail.com; www.ac4wellness.com