I cooked : Oriental oxtail soup with root vegetables

When thinking about soups, one of the first to spring to mind is oxtail soup. There are various versions of oxtail soup that exist. But the common property of the various types of oxtail soup is the fact that it is the perfect comfort food to reenergise the body and provide some much needed warmth. I did some research on various types of oxtail soup and decided to invent my own version of oxtail soup which has strong oriental influences mainly from chinese and korean cuisine. It is a relatively simple dish to prepare and is really flavoursome.

Oxtail soup
Preparation time: approx 2 hours
Serves: up to 4 persons

Ingredients
600g oxtail
2 carrots
1 whole radish/daikon
2-3 large onions
2 tomatoes
2 large stalks of spring onions
salt
pepper
2 tbs korean bean paste (doenjang) or miso
1 tbs korean red pepper paste (gochujang)

1. Firstly boil some hot water in a pot. Place the oxtail in the water and boil for 2-3 minutes. Remove foam that forms on the surface of the water.
2. Clean, peel and chop the carrots, radish, onions, tomatoes and spring onions roughly.
3. Fill water in the pot until it covers the oxtails and bring to a boil.
4. Put in the radish and cover pot. Boil for about 10 minutes
5. Put in the carrots and onions. Cover the pot and boil for about an hour.
6. Next, put in the bean paste and pepper paste. Ensure that the paste is dissolved in the soup properly. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Optional : If you do not want to use the bean paste/red pepper paste you can substitute it with beef stock for a milder, 'beefier' taste.
7. Put in the tomatoes for the last half hour of boiling and the spring onions for the last 5-10 mins. You can start preparing the rice at this point.8. Serve the soup with rice or any other side dishes of your choice.