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1
Place the oxtail sections in a large pot. Cover with cold water, bring to a full boil, and hold for five minutes. Drain and rinse each section under cold running water, discarding all blanching liquid. The oxtail should be clean and free of grey foam or blood.
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2
Return the oxtail to the pot. Add the ginger, star anise, and dried orange peel. Cover with fresh cold water by at least five centimetres. Bring slowly to a bare simmer — surface trembling, not rolling — and maintain that temperature without interruption for six hours, skimming any fat or foam that rises in the first thirty minutes. This is where the dish lives or dies: a rolling boil clouds the broth and toughens the collagen; a held simmer over six hours converts it entirely into gelatin. At four hours the broth is soup; at six hours it is something else.
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3
Season with salt. Add the peanuts to the pot thirty minutes before the end of simmering, allowing them to soften in the broth.
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4
Add the mustard cabbage in the final ten minutes of simmering. It should wilt fully and lose its raw bitterness while retaining a slight structure — taste a leaf to confirm.
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5
Ladle the soup into deep bowls, distributing the oxtail sections evenly. Scatter cilantro over each bowl. The broth should be clear and golden, not opaque, and should coat a spoon with a faint viscous sheen. The meat should fall from the bone at the touch of a chopstick or spoon.
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6
Serve immediately alongside steamed rice, chili pepper water, and shoyu, each in its own vessel, allowing each diner to season the bowl at the table.