Gamjatang Recipe

I didn’t know how to cook Korean food before I came here. I learned from a lot of sources ~ my mother-in-law, sister-in-law, Daum’s Miznet and recipe book (Lee Wade’s Korean Cookery). However, they didn’t teach me one of my favorite Korean dishes ~ ê°ìžíƒ• (gamjatang) or pork bone soup. I’ve tried so many recipes for “gamjatang” ~ from Miznet to other online sources but nothing came close to the recipe from ì´ë°¥ì°¨. In fact, 100% of the recipes I tried from ì´ë°¥ì°¨ are failproof 😀
IMO, this is the best gamjatang recipe and I just followed everything as the recipe says. It costs less than 10,000 won. I bought the pork bones for only 6,000 (1.5 kilos) and the radish tops or ì‹œëž˜ê¸° for 1,000 won. I have all the other ingredients in my fridge. The sauce ingredients is originally for 1 kilo, but there is no need to double since it’s already spicy.

Gamjatang or Pork Bone Soup

Main ingredients:
– pork bones (1 kg ~ 1.5 kg)
– potatoes (1 large or 4 small ones)
– green onion (5-10 cm)
– perilla leaves (2 bunches)
Optional ingredients:
– radish tops (called ì‹œëž˜ê¸° in Korean supermarkets) – or substitute with Chinese cabbage (ë°°ì¶”)
– ground perilla seeds (called ë“¤ê¹»ê°€ë£¨ deul-kaet-karu)
Sauce:
– 4 T red pepper flakes (ê³ ì¶”ê°€ë£¨)
– 2 T cheongju (ì²ì£¼) – see photo
– 1.5 T soy sauce
– 2 T minced garlic
– 2 T minced shrimp paste (ìƒˆìš°ì “)
– 2 T bean paste (ëœìž¥)
– 2 T red pepper paste (ê³ ì¶”ìž¥)
– a pinch of ground black pepper
Stock ingredients:
– 1/2 cup of soju (ì†Œì£¼)
– 1/2 large onion
– 1 green onion (5-10 cm)
– 1/2 thumb size ginger
How to cook:

1. Soak the pork bones in cold water for 2 hours to get rid of the blood.
2. Boil a generous amount water in a pot. Add the bones and boil for ten minutes.
3. Stop cooking, drain and clean the pork bones to remove any impurities.
4. Prepare the sauce. Set aside.

5. In a big pot, put all the bones. Add a generous amount of water to cover all the bones. Add the ingredients for the soup.
6. Do not cover and boil for 1.5 hours (for 1.5 kilos) in high heat at first and then medium when it’s boiling.
7. Prepare the vegetables.
– Cut potatoes in quarters.
– Wash the perilla leaves and cut in half.
– Cut the green onion in diagonal.
– Cut the radish tops in 5 cm.

Use Chinese cabbage instead of radish tops if desired.

8. Mix half the sauce with the radish tops and potatoes. Reserve the other half for later.

Step number 8 - mix the sauce with the potatoes and radish tops. — Step number 8 – mix the sauce with the potatoes and radish tops.

9. Remove the stock ingredients (onion, green onion and ginger) from the pot. Or transfer the meat to another pot and add the stock without the onion, green onion and ginger. (I didn’t use a new pot).
10. Add the potatoes and radish tops. Cook with the meat for 15 minutes or until the potatoes are done.

When the pork is done, add the potatoes and radish tops.

11. Add the green onion, perilla leaves, ground perilla seeds and the remaining sauce. *Do not add all the sauce at once as it might be too spicy for some.