Hi Fred,
Normally I do not pre-process it first. The heavy spices in the soup should cover any gamey taste of goat meat.
If you are outside Malaysia, chances are you will get lamb which is more tender. As such, Two hours and above will be too long in my opinion. I do not know exactly how long it takes, but the endpoint should be when the meat is tender and soft.
Enjoy!
KP Kwan

Since this recipe was a big success I want to prepare the soup again, but this time with goat stewing meat or lamb stewing meat (I think Malaysians call this soup ‘sup kambing’, regardless the type of meat: goat or lamb, right?). I have no idea if goat meat and lamb meat need more or less simmering time than oxtail (for which you use 2 hrs and 20 minutes of simmering in this recipe, which works perfectly well). Do you have a clue? And are there other important things I should pay attention to when using goat meat or lamb meat? Is goat meat for instance very gamey and do I need to pre-process it first?

Thanks and kind regards,
Fred

Hi Fred,
I think your idea is OK to preserve the tenderness of the meat. You may also want to cook the chicken at a bare simmer to avoid it from becoming tough. Chicken cook at 70°C, so it does not need boiling water to cook through it.
Best regards,
KP Kwan

Hi KP,

Just to let you know that the oxtail was available today and I prepared this delicious soup. I cut down a bit on chilies (and salt) since we don’t eat that spicy. We really loved this oxtail soup and I will certainly prepare it more often in the future. Thank you so much for the recipe!

I was thinking about the version with chicken (sup ayam). To extract more collagen while keeping the chicken meat flavourful, I might take out the chicken (with bones) after ca. 30-35 minutes of simmering and separate the chicken meat from the chicken bones. Then I’ll return the chicken bones* plus skin to the pot to simmer for another 1 to 1.5 hour. At the very end I’ll remove the chicken bones from the pot and return the chicken meat to the pot. What do you think? Is it worth a try?

*A tea bag could be used for the smaller chicken bones, making it easier to remove them from the soup at the end.

Hi Fred,
If you use chicken chunks, 45 to 1 minutes should be good enough. In Malaysian over, we do not sear it, but it is a good way to enhance the flavor.
KP Kwan

This seems to be a very good recipe and I plan to prepare it this week with an oxtail if available. If oxtail is not available, I like to use chicken chunks with bones instead. In that case: how long should I simmer the chicken chunks? I assume chicken won’t need 2 hrs plus 20 minutes of simmering like the oxtail pieces. What do you think: perhaps 45 minutes of simmering in total for chicken chunks with bones? Should I sear the chicken chunks as well for extra flavour?

Hi Jessica,
Bird’s eye chilies are very hot. I suggest you leave it out so that everyone can enjoy the soup. It still tastes good.
KP Kwan

Hi Chen,
I am glad to know that it works even though it is a tone down version due to the out-of-stock situation.
Stay safe, and enjoy cooking!
KP Kwan