Take a pot and boil up some water. Throw in the bones and boil until scum rises to the surface. Discard the water and rinse the bones (here my grandma would take an extra step and scrub the bones, but my mom uses store-bought shanks with meat still on them), and return them to your biggest soup pot filled with cold water. ut in some sliced ginger and whole scallions (to counter the “bloody” gaminess of beef–I’m not sure how to describe it, but it might just be a Chinese food thing), and bring the pot to a boil again. Now simmer for “an entire afternoon.” My mom usually starts the broth around two or three in the afternoon, after she gets back from grocery shopping, and then by dinnertime it’s ready.

As for the daikon radish… She cuts it into 2-inch pieces (approximate) and puts them in the broth. Unfortunately I don’t quite remember at what point in the whole process they go in, but I do know that by the time the broth is served, the daikon chunks are easily pierced by a chopstick.

In our family we usually have three “entree” dishes on the table as well as a big tureen of “soup” (broth). And of course we eat all this with rice.