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Gamjatang is definitely in my top 5 favorite Korean soups, and if you know anything about Korean culture then you know it’s the nation of broth! Soup is fundamental to Korean cuisine & culture- there are so many to choose from and I would choose gamjatang every time!
Made with pork neck bones, this soup is hearty, spicy, and so comforting especially on a rainy day.
Why is it called gamjatang?
“Gamja” means potato and “tang” means soup in Korean, so up until I started my r&d for this recipe, I thought gamjatang meant potato soup. Apparently thats not the correct translation!
“Gamja” is also a Korean word that refers to part of the pork spine. Some readers have also told me that the original gamjatang didn’t even have potatoes in it, but restaurants started adding them because of the confusion over the name.
I know I can’t be the only one who didn’t know this. I avoided this dish on Korean menus for most of my life because I didn’t grow up eating it, so I didn’t know what it was. When I would see gamjatang on a menu, I really thought it meant potato soup and just wasn’t interested in it, so I never ordered it.
Funny enough, my mom thought the same thing even know she actually grew up in Korea. She didn’t try gamjatang until she was in her late 40’s! So we learned how to make this dish together and this is the recipe we came up with 🙂
Ingredients
- Pork neck bones- gamjatang is best made with pork neck bones. These have a lot of flavor and the meat is so delicious and tender! Look for bones that have the most meat on them.
- Aromatics– onion, large green onion, ginger, garlic, & dried shiitake mushroom.
- Seasoning paste- gochujang (Korean red pepper paste), gochugaru (Korean red pepper flakes), perilla powder, fish sauce, plum syrup, black pepper, and Knorr chicken bouillon.
- Young radish greens- this is actually my favorite part of this dish, besides the soup! The radish greens take on the flavor of the broth really well. You can also use napa cabbage instead if you prefer.
- Perilla leaves- even if you don’t really like perilla leaves, you should definitely add them because it is really delicious with this soup!
- Potato– one large russet potato cut into 6 pieces.
More soup recipes
If you like this recipe, try some of my other soup recipes on the blog!
Gamjatang (Pork Bone Soup)
Ingredients
- 2 lbs pork neck bones
- 8-10 cups water
- 2 tbsp doenjang, (fermented soybean paste)
- 1 oz sliced ginger, or 3 bay leaves
- 1 small onion
- 1 dried shiitake mushroom
- 1 daepa (large green onion), or 2 green onion
- 10 perilla leaves
- 1 large russet potato, peeled & cut into 6 pieces
- 1/2 lb young radish greens, or napa cabbage
- 1 serrano pepper, or Korean spicy pepper if you can find it
Seasoning paste
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tbsp gochugaru, (Korean red pepper flakes)
- 1 tbsp gochujang, (Korean red pepper paste)
- 2 tbsp fish sauce
- 3 tbsp perilla powder
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 tbsp plum syrup
- 1 tbsp Knorr chicken bouillon
- 2 tbsp water
Instructions
- Soak the pork neck bones in cold water for an hour, changing the water once or twice.
- Meanwhile, prepare the minced garlic, chopped green onion, sliced ginger, sliced onion, and washed young radish stems. Tip: Potatoes oxidize when peeled, so you can either wait to peel it until you need it, or peel and cut them and hold them in a bowl of cold water to prevent browning.
- Make the seasoning paste: combine the garlic, gochujang, gochugaru, fish sauce, perilla powder, black pepper, plum syrup, water, and Knorr chicken bouillon. Set aside.
- After 1 hour of soaking the pork neck bones, drain and add them to a pot with enough room temperature water to cover them. Bring it to a boil- this will take about 10-15 minutes, and once it starts boiling, only let it boil for a couple minutes. This is an asian technique for blanching meat. It gets rid of the gaminess and impurities in the pork.
- Drain and rinse the pork bones thoroughly, making sure to get all the gunk out of the crevices of the bones.
- Put the pork bones back in a cleaned pot. Add 8 cups of water, ginger, onion, dried shiitake mushroom, and fermented soybean paste. Bring to a boil, skim off any remaining impurities that float to the surface, then reduce the heat to medium and cover for 90 minutes. Tip: thoroughly mix the fermented soybean paste with 1/2 cup of water before adding it into the pot, so it mixes in easier.
- In a separate pot, bring water a boil then blanch the young radish greens for 1-2 minutes. Set aside.
- After 90 minutes, throw away the ginger and take out the shiitake mushroom to slice it.
- Add 1 to 2 cups of water to the pot, then add the seasoning paste and mix well. Then add the potatoes, green onion, blanched radish greens, sliced shiitake mushrooms, and sliced serrano pepper. Cover for another 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes the potatoes should be chopstick tender. Add the sliced perilla leaves last to finish, and thats it!
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I’ve made this a few times! It has never failed me!
I LOVE this recipe!!! Can’t wait to make it again~
I’ve been wanting to try this recipe! I love how easy it is the follow the instructions, the step by step and pictures are so much appreciated💕
It’s been so cold in so cal with too much rain and too little sun, so gamjatang sounded like the perfect recipe for this weather! The recipe was easy and the results were too delicious. (I’m eating leftovers for the third night in a row!) Yummmmmmm.
I have to say when I started following you on IG I was so juiced to find you and your cooking style is amazing. I have cooked & tried a lot of your recipes and recently I tried this and it was Fantastic, Fabulous, Flavorful f*%^~ing Bomb.com better than a restaurant. Your instructions are easy to follow and you can find all the ingredients that you provide. I’m so happy to found you!
we love gamjatang, never made it before until watching you, this hit the spot!!
Love your recipe for gamjatang! One of my favorite Korean dish! My family enjoys it every time!
I loooove gamjatang. The first time I had this was in Seoul the morning after a long night of drinking and clubbing. It resurrected me, so warm and inviting – my hostel owner who took us called it a hangover remedy and I ate it like 5 more times on that trip. I love sucking out all the meat and chewing the cartilage on those pork neck bones like a Neanderthal but can’t waste any of those tasty bits !! Thank you for a wonderful reminder and recipe I will surely try soon for these colder days.
I love this! I used short ribs instead (because that’s what I have lol) and it’s really amazing! I love that your recipe is really easy to follow and most importantly, they all taste authentic! Like you’re eating at ahjumma’s haha or a good korean restaurant. 🙂
This is one of my favorites! So simple and so satisfying!! My kids loved it, too! I love all your recipes so so much! Cannot wait for more!!