Gamjatang is a wonderfully hearty and spicy Korean stew made with pork neck bones and potatoes. It’s a great frugal meal that Koreans enjoyed especially during the cold season. BTW, if you cannot get pork neck bones, you can just use pork ribs and it will still be delicious.
Gamjatang 감자탕 (Korean Pork Neck Bone Stew) is a dish that was not really common in Seoul when I was growing up. The first time I had it was when my nephew DW was fulfilling his military duties in Korea and my husband and I visited him. My nephew loves to eat (must run in the family) and his request was to eat 2 meals within 5 hrs of his time off with us!!
His 1st request was to eat Gamjatang for lunch and then 2nd was to have Jjajangmyeon and Tangsuyuk (Sweet and Sour Pork) for dinner. And after the early dinner, he wanted to take a box of pizza back to his unit so he could share with his buddies.
In between these meals, we sat in a coffee shop, waiting for our stomach to digest and waiting anxiously, wondering if things would be digested in time for another meal!!! Yesss.. it did. Can you tell that our family loves to eat?? 😂😂 I can’t believe that he is now a proud father of very cute two boys — I feel OLD… 😭
History of Gamjatang
Gamjatang originates from Korea’s Jeolla province and the history dates back to the Three Kingdoms (57 BC to 668 AD) when Jeolla people raised hogs for food. As you can imagine, hog neck bones were not a very highly sought after part of the animal and thus was something the commoner could easily make a meal out of.
Why is it called Gamjatang? What’s in the name?
Many think it’s called Gamjatang because Gamja 감자 means Potato in Korean and there are potatoes in this stew. But consensus is, that’s not really why. There is a part of the hog’s back bone that’s called Gamja and then the hog’s spinal cord is also called Gamja. So the name most likely originated from the fact that the back or neck bone along with perhaps the spinal cord was all cooked together in this yummy stew.
Cook’s tips on How to Make best Gamjatang (Pork Bone Stew)
- Substitute any part of pork ribs for neck or back bone
- If there’s a porky or gamey smell, soak pork bones in cold water for 1 hour and pre-boil, discard liquid
- Cook thoroughly and sufficiently until all the meat attached to the bone is tender
- This is a very flavorful and fragrant stew – don’t skimp on spices and perilla leaves or other garnishes
- Use and Instant Pot and try my Instant Pot Gamjatang Recipe – it comes out tender, faster and just as yummy.
Step-by-Step Directions
- If using pork neck bones, soak in cold water for 30 min. to remove excess blood.
Pork Neck Bones for Gamjatang If using pork ribs, there’s no need to soak.
- Once soaked (no need if using ribs), boil pork neck bones or ribs in a pot. Add enough water to cover the pork, add a splash of cooking sake/mirin/white wine, 1 Tbsp of pepper corns, 1 knob of ginger and 1/2 Tbsp of ground coffee.
Pork Neck Bones in Pot with aromatics - Bring to boil on medium high heat and then cook on medium heat for 10 minutes.
Boiled Pork Neck Bones - Drain and discard the liquid. Add the pork (only not the liquid) back into the pot.
- Prepare all vegetables.
Gamjatang Vegetable Ingredients - Peel potatoes and cut into big chunks about 1.5 inch cubes.
- Rinse green onions, perilla leaves, red or green chili peppers, shishito peppers, seoul green cabbage and crown daisies.
- Cut red or green chili peppers into 1 inch to 1.5 inch lengths.
- Cut green onions into 2 inch lengths.
Cut Vegetables for Gamjatang - Fold perilla leaves in half and cut into thick strips.
Cutting perilla leaves for Gamjatang
- Make seasoning sauce by mixing in Gochujang, Deonjang, chopped garlic, grated ginger, gukganjang, anchovy sauce, ground perilla seeds, black pepper, cooking sake, red chili powder and 1/2 c water.
Gamjatang – Korean Pork Bone Stew Sauce - In the pot with pre-cooked pork, add water (5 cups) and the sauce from above.
- Cook on medium high heat for 10 minutes.
- Add potatoes, chili peppers, cabbage and 1/2 of green onions to pork and simmer for 35 minutes or until the meat falls off the bone.
- Finish the stew by topping it with perilla leaves, enoki mushrooms, more green onions and optionally crown daisies.
Different stages of cooking Gamjatang in Pot - Cook for another 2-3 minutes and serve.
Gamjatang Finished in Pot - Alternatively, you can cook the stew at the table – which is what most restaurants do in Seoul.
- Serve with some rice and non-spicy banchans like Sukju Namul, Apple Onion Salad or various Jeons or Pancakes
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Gamjatang - Spicy Pork Bone Stew
Ingredients
- 2 lb pork ribs or pork neck bones
- 5 cups water
For pre-cooking pork
- 1 Tbsp cooking sake or mirin
- 1 Tbsp pepper corns
- 1 Tbsp fresh ginger just use 1 inch length
- 1/2 Tbsp ground coffee
Vegetables and Aromatics
- 2 each potatoes russet
- 2 bunches green onions
- 1/2 pack enoki mushrooms
- 7 each crown daisies Ssukaat
- 10 each perilla leaves
- 8 each shishito peppers optional
- 1 bunch Seoul cabbage napa cabbage is ok too
- 3 each red chili peppers
Seasoning sauce
- 2 Tbsp Doenjang Korean Soybean paste
- 1 Tbsp Gochujang Korean Red Chili paste
- 1 tsp fresh ginger, grated
- 1 Tbsp garlic, chopped about 4 cloves
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1 Tbsp Korean red chili powder Gochukaru 고추가루
- 1 tsp anchovy sauce, fermented Myeolchi Aekjeot 멸치액젓
- 2 tsp Gukganjang Korean soup soy sauce
- 2 Tbsp ground Perilla Seeds Deulkkae Garu 들깨가루
- 2 Tbsp cooking sake mirin ok
- 1/2 cup water
Instructions
Prepare Pork
- If using pork neck bones, soak in cold water for 1 hour to remove excess blood and smell. If using pork ribs, no need to soak.
- If using pork ribs, start boiling the pork now. If using pork neck bones, prepare below while soaking.
- Boil pork bones in a pot. Add enough water to cover the pork, add a splash of cooking sake/mirin/white wine, 1 Tbsp of pepper corns, 1 knob of ginger and 1/2 Tbsp of ground coffee. Bring to boil on medium high heat and then cook on medium heat for 10 minutes. Drain. Add the pork (only not the liquid) back into the pot.
Prepare all vegetables.
- Peel potatoes and cut into big chunks about 1.5 inch cube.
- Rinse green onions, perilla leaves, red or green chili peppers, shishito peppers, seoul green cabbage and crown daisies.
- Cut red or green chili peppers into 1 inch to 1.5 inch lengths.
- Cut green onions into 2 inch lengths.
- Cut perilla leaves into thick strips.
Prepare Sauce
- Make seasoning sauce by mixing in Gochujang, Deonjang, chopped garlic, grated ginger, gukganjang, anchovy sauce, ground perilla seeds, black pepper, cooking sake and red chili powder.
Put it all together
- In the pot with pre-cooked pork, add 5 cups water and the seasoning sauce.
- Cook on medium high heat for 10 minutes.
- Add potatoes, chili peppers, cabbage and 1/2 of green onions to pork and simmer for 35 minutes or until the meat falls off the bone.
- Finish the stew by topping it with perilla leaves, more green onions and crown daisies. Cook for another 2-3 minutes and serve. Alternatively, you can cook the stew at the table - which is what most restaurants do in Seoul.
- Serve with some rice and a non-spicy banchans like Sukju Namul, Apple Onion Salad or various Jeons or Pancakes
Tips & Notes:
- Substitute any part of pork ribs for neck or back bone
- If there's a porky or gamey smell, soak pork bones in cold water for 1 hr and pre-boil, discard liquid
- Cook thoroughly and sufficiently until all the meat attached to the bone is tender
- This is a very flavorful and fragrant stew - don't skimp on spices and perilla leaves or other garnishes
- Add more red chili powder to increase the spice level
- Ground perilla seed (Deulkkae Garu 들깨가루) is an important ingredient in this dish. You can make it without it but it just won't taste the same.
How much water do I add after draining the water from the initial quick boil? The recipe says 1/2 cup but that can’t be right.
Hi Carrie – I’m so sorry – it should be 5 cups of water that’s added to the pot. The 1/2 cup water is just for making the sauce. I corrected the post. Also apologies for the late reply. thank you!
The whole family loved this recipe! It will be on the regular rotation. Perfect for cool weather. I pounded sesame seeds (couldn’t get perilla seeds at the Korean market this time) in a mortar & pestle into a paste w/the garlic and pepper, Thai style. I skipped the recommended step of squeezing out the sesame water and discarding the pulp. To White American taste buds, any grittiness was not noticed. I will look for perilla seeds and make this recipe correctly next time.
Thank you!
Oh sure that would work – smart! I’m so happy that you were able to adjust and make it work. And glad your family enjoyed it. Thank you so much for sharing!!
Thank you for another wonderful recipe. It was my first time cooking pork neck bones. It has very nice flavors.
I was wondering if you have tried cooking the pork bones under pressure lfor an extended time in order to break the connective tissue and cartilage down further. I was planning on trying this next time I make it. I don’t know if that would over cook the meat.
Thanks again
Rob
I ended up cooking the stew for much longer than recommended until my husband told me, “this meat is very tender now”. I also worried about over-cooking, but everything was absolutely delicious!
I can’t wait to make this! I had this before but want to recreate it at home. If I use pork ribs, do I need to change the cooking time to get meat that falls off the bone? Thank you for your wonderful recipe!
No, the time should be similar – maybe few more minutes if you have a thick, st louis style pork ribs. Thank you for the 5 stars even before making it! 😉 Enjoy.
I would like to try this recipe, but I cannot get perilla powder and perilla leaves. Is there a substitute what I can use?
you can try using cilantro or basil + mint instead of perilla leaves. If you can find edible basil seeds, you can probably grind that and use the powder but you can omit it if you want. will not be the same but… enjoy!