Gamjatang

Gamjatang (Korean Pork Spine Soup)

A robust, fiery Korean soup built on long-simmered pork spine, softened potatoes, wilted napa cabbage, and a perilla-seed enriched broth. It is the canonical late-night bowl for cold weather and sore heads.

Prep

20 min

Cook

180 min

Total

200 min

Serves

4

Difficulty

Medium

Recipe ingredients

• •1.4 kg (3 lb) pork neck spine or back bone, cut into 5–7 cm pieces, ask the butcher to chop through the bone
• •30 g (¼ cup) gochugaru (Korean coarse red chili powder), adjust to taste
• •30 g (¼ cup) perilla seed powder (deulkkae garu), toasted and ground; sesame seed powder is the common home-kitchen substitute
• •20 g (2 tbsp) doenjang (Korean soybean paste)
• •15 g (1 tbsp) gochujang (Korean red chili paste)
• •8 g (2 tsp) minced garlic
• •5 g (1 tsp) minced ginger
• •15 ml (1 tbsp) soju or rice wine, optional, helps tame gaminess
• •600 g (1½ lb) potatoes (firm waxy type), Korean gamja or Yukon Gold
• •400 g (½ medium head) napa cabbage, cut into 5 cm pieces
• •120 g (1 cup) sawi (Korean water parsley) or Chinese celery, substitute: parsley stems plus a few celery leaves
• •2 g (1 bunch) green onions, cut into 5 cm lengths
• •5 g (1 tsp) salt, plus more to taste
• •3 g (1 tsp) whole black peppercorns
• •2.5 L (10 cups) cold water

Steps

1. 1 Place the pork spine in a large pot, cover with cold water, bring to a boil, and simmer 10 minutes. Drain and rinse the bones under warm water to remove scum — this step is essential for a clean-tasting broth.
2. 2 Return the blanched spine to the clean pot. Add 2.5 L cold water, the peppercorns, and the soju if using. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a gentle simmer and skim occasionally.
3. 3 Simmer uncovered for 90 minutes, or until the meat pulls away from the bone and the marrow is soft. Top up with hot water if the level drops below the bones.
4. 4 While the broth simmers, make the seasoning paste: whisk together gochugaru, perilla seed powder, doenjang, gochujang, garlic, ginger, and 60 ml (¼ cup) of the hot broth into a thick, smooth slurry.
5. 5 Stir the seasoning paste into the broth. Add the potatoes and continue to simmer, covered, for 20–25 minutes, until the potatoes are tender when pierced but still holding their shape.
6. 6 Add the napa cabbage and simmer a further 5–7 minutes until wilted but still bright. Stir in the green onions and water parsley, cook 1 minute, then taste and adjust with salt.
7. 7 Serve very hot, ladled into large bowls so each portion gets a piece of spine and marrow. The broth should be deep brick-red, slightly thickened from the perilla seed, and the potatoes should yield easily to a spoon.
8. 8 Pork spine is safe once the meat near the bone has reached 85 °C / 185 °F and pulls cleanly from the bone; potatoes should reach 95 °C / 203 °F internally (fully tender).