Sierra porter beer braised oxtail with coriander gremolata

This is the best meal I’ve had this year by far, the star of this dish was the sierra porter beer in which I braised the oxtail. Sierra porter is a really amazing beer from Sierra Nairobi’s only micro-brewery. They brew three great beers, Sierra Blonde, Sierra Amber & Sierra Porter. The amber & the porter are my favourites. The blonde is a pale lager, whilst its far better than EABL’s Tusker Malt Lager, it is not bold enough for my taste. Sierra also brew in accordance to the German purity law, the Reinheitsgebot. On the flipside, EABL add adjuncts & an assortment of preservatives to most of their beers. Tusker, a Kenyan favourite, has cornstarch added to the barley malt. The use of cornstarch serves only to reduce brewing cost. EABL is owned by the mega multinational Diageo(thats not a bad thing), Sierra is a homegrown company which is why I would like to support them & as per their website their founder is fond of thai food and so am I.

Back to the braised oxtail, it was a cornucopia of flavour. The porter added sweetness to the oxtail & the most amazing aroma. The lemon juice in the sauce(reduced braising liquor helps cuts the richness of the oxtail. The ugali had great textural contrast to gelatinous goodness of the oxtail. The gremolata made up of roasted garlic & coriander add flourish to this meal.

Beer braised oxtail

• 1 kg oxtail(jointed)
• 2 bottles sierra porter
• 1 carrot sliced
• 1 onion roughly chopped
• 6 Sprigs of thyme
• 6 cloves of garlic
• 3 tomatoes diced
• 250 mls water
• Plain flour
• Vegetable oil
• Few drops of lemon juice

1. In a large bowl or casserole dish add oxtail, carrot, onion, thyme, garlic. Add the beer to completely submerge all ingredients. Marinate in fridge for 24 hours.
2. After 24 hours, drain beer from casserole and set it aside. Also set aside oxtail & vegetables separately.
3. Dust the oxtail in plain flour, heat vegetable oil in casserole pan then brown oxtail until golden brown then set it aside.
4. Also brown the reserved vegetables in pan. Add the tomatoes & cook until tomatoes are soft.
5. Add beer and bring it to boil, add oxtail.
6. Bring to a gentle simmer. Simmer for about 4-5 hours when oxtail
7. When oxtail is done, set it aside. Strain braising liquor.
8. In saucepan bring braising liquor to boil. Reduce it by half. Add few drops of lemon juice & season to taste. The reduced braising liquor is great sauce for this dish.

Coriander/Cilantro gremolata

• 1 cup of roughly chopped coriander/cilantro.
• 6 garlic cloves with skin on.
• Olive oil
• Salt
• 3 sprigs of thyme.
• Zest of half a lemon.

1. Toss the garlic cloves & thyme in a little olive oil & salt. Roast in 150 degree celsius oven for about 15 minutes.
2. Squeeze garlic out of its skins, and roughly chop it
3. Combine the garlic with chopped coriander & lemon zest.

Putting it all together

• Spoon some of the reduced braising liquor into a bowl, then some pieces of the oxtail topped with the coriander gremolata. This goes great with ugali.
• Making ugali is easy but tricky to explain…….. I’m kinda being lazy now.