Venezuelan Sancocho (Broth) - cooking recipe

Ingredients

4 large veal shanks, with bone
3 potatoes, large
2 carrots, large
1 sprig cilantro
1 scallion top, whole
1 tomatoes, cut into eighths
1 onion, small, whole, and cut in half
3 garlic cloves, minced
6 corn cobs, cut into 1 to 2-inch thick slices
400 g pumpkin, diced large
350 g celeriac
350 g yucca root
1 slice red bell pepper, cut in half
1/2 green cabbage, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon rice (optional)
2 tablespoons pasta (optional)
1 egg, whole raw (optional)
2 green plantains, cut each into 3 pieces (optional)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt (to taste)
3 liters water

Preparation

Prepare the vegetable first by dicing, seeding, and pealing.
clean and cut the corn cobbs. Take the outer skins off of the potatoes, pumpkin, celeriac, and yucca. Peel and slice the plantains. Wash everything and place all vegetables in a pan full of water.
In a large 5 quart pan, start to cook the 4 beef shanks.
Add the seasoning: garlic. bell pepper, onion, tomato, cilantro, scallion, and salt.
Add the hard vegetables: the carrots, corn cobbs, and yucca. Keep the water level well above the veggies.
Cover, put the heat to max. and boil. Set to low and simmer for 1/2 hour.
By this time, the vegetables should start to soften or cook; add the rest of the (soft) vegetables, such as the potatoes, and at this stage, add also the rice, pasta, the cabbage, and the egg (if you want to, because some of these ingredientes are optonal) the cleriac, plantains, and the pumpkin, last.
Cover and simmer for another 20 minutes until all vegetables soften and cook. Don't overcook because some of the vegetables will dissolve and their taste will be lost. Add more water and salt as you go throught the entire process so the pan will not dry and the level is always kept above the vegetables.
TO SERVE: Put the broth in a separate serving dish.
Fill 1/2 of the individual soup plates with the broth. Cut the meat into large pieces and divide amongst the plates. Now add equal assorted vegetable portions to each plate or according to each one's preferneces.
Some people like their soup in one plate and the veggies in another one.