If I had to choose my favorite soup in the world, it would be the Hong Kong Style Borscht with Oxtail 牛尾羅宋湯 (níu wěi lúo sòng tāng). It has tender pieces of meat that falls off the bones. The sweetness of the vegetables marries so well with the tangy taste of the tomatoes and vinegar. Every spoonful is full of sweet deliciousness! I especially like to add one chili pepper so that there is a tiny bit of heat in every mouthful!
During the Russian Revolution, around 1917, there were many Russians who fled to China. Many settled in Haerbin and some made their way to Shanghai. Russian restaurants emerged in Shanghai with Russian Borscht being one of the main dishes. However, they started to change the recipe to cater to the tastes of Shanghai people. They removed beets and added more sugar. During the Japanese invasion of China, many people from Shanghai fled to Hong Kong. Amongst them were some restauranteurs who started the first western-style restaurants in Hong Kong. And they brought with them the Shanghai version of Russian Borscht; which is now the Hong Kong version.
In my version of Hong Kong Style Borscht with Oxtail 牛尾羅宋湯, I don’t add potatoes like in most recipes because we can rarely finish a whole pot of the soup in one sitting. I find that when it’s reheated, the potatoes turn to mush and I don’t like the texture of the soup when it does that. The only types of beef that I will add to this soup are oxtail, short rib, beef rib, and beef shank. These meats tend to be more tender when cooked in a soup. For the leftovers, I like to add some pasta to it to hide the fact that it’s a leftover!
Hong Kong Style Borscht with Oxtail 牛尾羅宋湯 goes best with garlic bread and Cola Wings. Why not enjoy it with a Hong Kong style drink too? A nice cold lemon tea would go perfectly!
Hong Kong Style Borscht with Oxtail 牛尾羅宋湯
Ingredients
- 700 g Ox tail any type of beef
- 3 large Tomatoes cut into wedges (you can also use canned tomatoes)
- 300 g Carrots cut
- 1 medium Onion cut into wedges
- 1-2 kg Green cabbage cut into wedges
- 4 cloves Garlic whole
- 2 medium Potatoes optional
- 4 stalks Celery cut
- 8 Bay Leaves
- ½ tsp Oregano
- 2 tsp Salt taste before adding
- 4 tbsp Sugar taste before adding
- 1 tsp Rice vinegar taste before adding
- 312 ml Tomato Paste 2 little cans
- 1 tsp Tobasco Sauce optional
- 2.5 litres Water or broth or a combination of both
- 1 Chili pepper(s) optional
Instructions
- Wash and blanche ox tail and set aside
- Wash and cut vegetables to your desired shapes. Since their size will reduce as the soup cooks, I generally cut them into approx. 1” pieces
- Peel, cut and remove seeds from tomatoes.
To peel tomatoes: Boil some water in a pot, cut an “X” on the bottom of the tomato and put into the boiling water for 3 seconds. If the water doesn’t cover the whole tomato then flip the tomato over and count another 3 seconds. Remove from water. Peel when cooled. - Add cabbage on the bottom, then ox tail, tomatoes, carrots, onions, celery, potatoes, garlic, bay leaves, oregano, tomato paste and chili peppers to the pot
I don’t like to add potatoes because they get all mushy by the second reheating - Add 2 litres of water or broth into a large pot. Bring the mixture to a boil
The other 500ml will be added after some of the liquid evaporates in 2-3 hours - Turn heat down to low and let the soup simmer for 3-4 hours. Check every hour to make sure the ingredients on the bottom have not burned by giving it a good stir
- Add the 500ml of water/broth after around 2 hours or when necessary. You can add more water if you feel the evaporation was more than 500ml
- After 3-4 hours, stir and taste. Add salt, sugar and vinegar to suit your taste. You know it’s done when the meat on the oxtail falls off the bone.
The amount of salt, sugar and vinegar are for reference, please feel free to adjust based on your own preferences - Serve
Recipe is very easy to follow and I tastes to good! Thanks Emily
Hi Tony. I’m so happy you got to try this recipe, it really is one of my favourites! It’ll taste even better the next day! Happy cooking!
I really like the ideas for "changing it up". Our family enjoys the sour taste , so we tried it with a lemon and it really made a difference. Felt like restaurant style!
We also used the instapot to save a bit of time and results are just as tasty.
Great recipe!
Hi Kevin,
Thanks for trying out my recipe! I'm glad you decided to change it up. I really want to give people ideas to customize the ingredients that suit them. Cooking at home is all about making it your own style. Happy Cooking!
I am such a fan of all your HK recipes! They are very true to taste! Thank you for all the details, photos, and explanations (especially how HK Russian Borscht came to be). The first time I followed your recipe, I intended this as our main one-pot dish for dinner, so I added about a pound of small cubes of beef stew meat for a little more meatier soup and it turned out delish and plenty leftovers! Next time, I'll use both oxtail and cube of short-ribs for our one-pot dinner. I thought simmer all the veggies would make them super soggy, but nope, it was perfect and still had a bite to it! One thing I did add, near the end, was about 2 Tbs Worcestershire sauce... to make it a bit more HK/UK haha. Overall, I LOVED your recipe as it's SO true to HK taste and very nostalgic and will definitely make it again and again!
Hi Cindy, thank you for your kind comments. HK borscht is one of my family's favourites! I'm really glad you and your family enjoyed it too. It's funny that you mention adding Worcestershire sauce. I never thought to add it originally, but the last couple of times I made it (I made it last week), I added Worcestershire sauce to it and it tasted really good. I was thinking about adding it to the recipe. Now, given your confirmation, I will definitely add it to the recipe! Thanks again for your words of encouragement and for taking the time to give my recipe a try. Happy cooking!
Cooked the HK Borscht Soup in the Instant Pot for 45 minutes, natural release. Oxtail was very tender, I can't imagine replacing it with beef shank. Added Worcestershire sauce as well. Everyone enjoyed it. 🙂 Will try to cook this again when I get a chance to get oxtail again.