It’s not so much a stew as a really rich, falling-off-the-bone dish. Using a slow cooker seems to be the best way to cook oxtail because it really needs a full day of cooking to soften the toughness of the meat. I let it go for almost 12 and it was perfect. The onion and pepper practically dissolve and become more a part of the sauce than separate entities in the dish. The potatoes come out so rich and delicious that they are practically like candy.

3 lb. raw bone-in oxtails (separate the pieces if still linked)
2-3 small to medium potatoes
1 small onion
1 anaheim (or other type of) pepper (even a habanero won’t add hardly any spice after 10-ish hours)
chopped carrots 
1/3 cup soy sauce 
1 tablespoon sesame oil*
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon hot sauce such as sriracha 
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon cornstarch

Add the potatoes and other veggies in your slow cooker. Place the oxtails on top.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients except for the cornstarch. *If the oxtails have a lot of fat and you don’t have a lot of vegetables, you could scale back some of the sesame oil. Pour over the oxtails.

Cover and cook on LOW for ideally 12 hours, 8 hours minimum, until the meat is very tender.

Temporarily transfer the cooked oxtails to a strainer over a saucepan. Let them drip out, then strain the liquids from the slow cooker into the saucepan. Return the oxtails to the slow cooker, cover with the lid, and set to WARM. (Low is still fine if your crock pot doesn’t have a “warm” setting.)

Heat the cooking liquids over medium heat. Whisk the cornstarch with a tablespoon of cold water and stir it into the saucepan. Keep cooking the sauce, whisking often, until it has thickened into a rich glaze, about 3-5 minutes.

Pour the sauce over the oxtails and serve over rice.