For this dish, we travel all the way down the Legend of Zelda timeline to Skyward Sword.
The kitchen at the Knight Academy is run by Henya. She spends her days preparing meals to feed the students and teachers who reside at the academy on Skyloft. Of the many things she feeds the Knight Academy residents, stews are generally some of the most popular meals, as they are hearty and nourishing. One particular stew of bone-in meat, potatoes, and vegetables can be found simmering in a pot over the fire throughout the entirety of the game. This is Henya’s Knight Academy Stew.
Zooming in on the stew over the fire, we can see pieces of bone-in meat floating in a brown broth. This definitely indicated a beef-like stew to me. And, if I am going to make a stew of bone-in beef, the first things that comes to my mind is oxtail. We can also see potatoes, and what looks like carrots floating in the stew; these root vegetables complement an oxtail stew well. There are also green leafy vegetables floating in the pot, which I use parsley for in my version of this stew. I round out the stew with some additional aromatics and seasonings. The end result is a really tasty oxtail stew. I would be more than delighted to have Henya place a bowl of this stew in front of me after a long day at the Knight Academy!
Ingredients
3 lbs oxtail pieces
1 large onion, diced
1 inch piece of ginger, grated
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp salt, plus more to season meat
½ tsp black pepper, plus more to season meat
1 tsp smoked paprika
½ tsp ground clove
5-6 cups beef broth
2 tbsp tomato paste
2 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
2 bay leaves
3 small potatoes, quartered
4-5 carrots, cut into 2 inch segments
¼ cup chopped parsley
Vegetable oil
Pat the oxtail dry and season with salt and pepper.
In a pressure cooker over medium-high heat, add 1-2 tbsp vegetable oil. Sear the oxtail in the oil on all sides until well browned, roughly 1-2 minutes per side. Brown the oxtail in batches and reserve on a plate.
Once browned, reduce the heat to medium-low and add the onions. Sauté the onions until translucent and soft, about 5 minutes. Add the ginger and garlic, stir, and sauté for another minute. Add the smoked paprika and ground clove, stir, and sauté for one more minute.
Add the tomato paste and soy sauce, and stir to incorporate all of the ingredients. Let the mixture cook for one to two minute more, and then add the beef broth. Scrape the brown bits from the bottom of the pressure cooker with a wooden spoon or spatula. Stir to mix the ingredients through the broth. Add the browned oxtail back into the pot, along with the carrots and potatoes. Add the bay leaves, 1 tsp of salt and ½ tsp of pepper. Stir the stew, and attach the pressure cooker lid.
Lock the lid and turn the heat to high. Once pressure has built up and steam is rising through the vent, turn the heat to low. Allow the stew to cook for one hour. After one hour, turn off the heat and allow pressure to reduce. Once steam is no longer rising out of the vent and you no longer hear a hiss, release the pressure. Open the lid, remove the bay leaves from the stew, and give the stew a final stir. It is ready to serve.
To serve the stew, place a piece of oxtail in the middle of a soup bowl and surround it with a few pieces of potato and carrot. Ladle broth over them and then garnish with fresh chopped parsley.