5 spice Oxtail stew

I used to eat this quite often as a child. It was always delicious, and one of the best memories of childhood. I don't know the exact childhood recipe, but there is still a little glamour involved in eating  oxtail stew compared to eating plain boring beef stew, and this is the best beef-ish stew I've had in ages!

Ingredients
1kg oxtail (ensure at least one medium sized bone for each person)
250g stewing beef, cubed (there really isn't much meat on the ox tails after removing the bones)
3 bay leaves
1 tbsp black peppers
1 tbsp Szechuan peppers
1 tsp dried rosemary
1 tbsp 5 spice
3 star anise
3 cloves
3 sticks of cinnamon
1 l water
1 can stout (about 475ml)
1 cup flour
½ big onion
1 tsp crushed garlic
1 tsp crushed ginger
8 sticks of celery (sliced)
4 medium carrots (chopped into big cubes)
2 big potatoes or 2 medium ones (chopped into big cubes)
3 tbsp light soya sauce or salt to taste

Method
1) Using a freezer bag, pour in the oxtail, beef and flour and shake to coat.
2) Shake off the excess flour and sauté the beef pieces in a little oil in a screaming hot pan. Don't crowd the pan to ensure that the beef is nicely browned. Put the browned meat in a stewing pot. I prefer to use a slow cooker but it can also cook at a low heat (130 deg C) in the oven.
3) Sauté the onions slowly till caramelised, then add in the ginger and garlic and briefly sauté. Be careful not to burn the garlic. Place in the stewpot. Sauté the vegetables briefly till slightly softened. Pour into the stewpot.
4) Place all the herbs and spices, except the salt, into a stock bag and place it in the pot with the ginger and garlic.
5) Pour in the stout and top up with water to cover everything. Once the liquid comes to a boil, skim off the scum. Leave it it to cook for 6 hours. Periodically open to skim off the scum and oil.
6) 1 hour before it's ready, add the soya sauce. Adding it too early will cause the meat to stop tenderizing.
7) At the end, check for seasoning and serve with rice or crusty bread. If you can wait a day, leaving the stew to steep overnight will let the flavours develop.