Ox tail aka collagen soup

tried to replicate the korean ox tail soup from the other day....

and am quite happy to report....success!! yay!!! and the meat wasn't that strong smelling too..

First I used the slow cooker, thinking that it would produce the same results...(i was looking for a milky broth) but after 8 hours of stewing, the soup was clear and brown....it's my first time using beef bones for soup so i thought that it would turn white...
so then i remove the bones and transfered it to another pot, brought it to a boil and viola, after 20 minutes of simmering, the soup turned cloudy!! yay!! Boiled for another hour or so and had the following......

oxtail soup with onions and ramen (ok, instant noodles!)


I continued to boil the remaining soup in the pot and it became really rich and milky...

and then I thought I could use the bones for a third time..so i filled the pot to the brim again and left it to boil....went upstairs to my room and forgot all about it!!!!!!

AHHHH!!!! The bottom of the pot was burnt to a black crust...and the meat pieces, well, they still taste pretty alright...like roast beef!! Ha... but the smoke set off the smoke alarm and it was pretty embarrassing when the security guard came to check on me....and his advice: soups are best cooked in the slow cooker....how ironic!!! :P
But he also checked my WMF pot which I thought was destined for the scrap and said that it should still be fine after some scrubbing!! Phew....

oh and the recipe??

Soak 600g ox tail in water for an hour to let the blood out.
Blanch with hot water.
Add to pot with 1 onion, 4 cloves of garlic, teaspoon peppercorns and handful of celery. (celery cos i heard it removes the gamey smell of lamb and i tot it might work here too...but mainly cos there were some left over in the fridge from a prior healthy impulse)
Add around 3 litres of water and bring to boil.
Simmer for 2 hours, skimming off scum about once a hour.
I haven't used the stove for boiling soups for a long time so i was really surprised at how fast the water evaporated...or perhaps the seal on the lid is not that excellent...hmmm....

but anyways, this soup is very exciting..why??? cos it looks like those from steamboat restaurants back home... i always wondered how they managed to make the broth so white... yay....