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Ox-Tail Soup (AI-generated preview)

From Like Water for Chocolate · 1992 · Screen-exact

Ox-Tail Soup

Serve when

Serve it as Chencha does — carried in without ceremony to a woman who has stopped eating, and who recovers by the bowl.

In the movie

The July recipe of Esquivel's novel ('Ox-Tail Soup'), carried into the film — Esquivel wrote the screenplay, and the broth Chencha brings Tita follows the book's own chapter and its healing role.

Theatrical

  • 00:54:05 Chencha brings Tita a pot of ox-tail soup while she is recovering at Dr. Brown's house; the narrator calls it 'this magic beef broth' — Tita eats, weeps, and is restored more completely by the soup than by any of the doctor's remedies.

The ox-tail soup arrives without any of the film's usual fanfare — no wedding, no crowd, just Chencha showing up with a pot for a woman who has all but given up. It does what nothing else in the story manages: it brings Tita fully back. The novel calls broths a cure for "any type of illness, physical or mental," and the film backs the claim completely — this is the one dish in the story that heals rather than overwhelms.

Ingredients

Method

  1. Brown the ox tail pieces well on all sides in the oil, in batches if needed; remove and set aside.
  2. In the same pot, soften the onion and garlic, then return the ox tail with the stock and bay leaves. Bring to a simmer, cover, and cook low and slow 3-4 hours, until the meat falls from the bone and the broth has turned rich and gelatinous.
  3. Skim any excess fat from the surface. Add the carrots, celery, chayote, and corn, and simmer 20-30 minutes more until the vegetables are tender.
  4. Stir in the chipotle if using, and season with salt to taste.
  5. Ladle into deep bowls with plenty of the meat and vegetables, and finish with cilantro and a squeeze of lime.

Beyond the recipe

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