Korean Pork Bone Soup (Gamjatang), with potatoes, makes the best comfort food, and a hearty dinner. Full of rich and authentic flavors, it’s the best soup recipe to warm up with on a cold winter day!
A TRADITIONAL HOMEMADE KOREAN SOUP RECIPE
Nothing beats a steaming bowl of comforting soup once the weather cools down. Gamjatang or Korean Pork Bone Soup/Stew was one of our favorite soups we used to order out when we were living in a bigger city. We didn’t grow up eating Korean food but it immediately felt like comfort food to us the first time we tried it.
If you’ve never tried Korean Pork Bone Soup Gam ja tang before, you are in for a real treat. It is considered a traditional Korean dish with its distinct hearty and rich flavors.
Be sure to set aside an entire afternoon if you are following the recipe exactly – or split it up and start the prep work the day before – the results are amazing and will definitely satisfy your Gamjatang craving.
TIPS ON MAKING KOREAN PORK BONE SOUP
Most people might get frightened after seeing the amount of ingredients and time it takes to cook (the pork bones require 2 hours of soaking in water and around 2 hours for simmering).
I’ll be honest, this soup does require some patience and tolerance and is a medium level of difficulty to cook but trust me when I say your efforts will be well worth the reward waiting for you.
If you have never tried Korean Pork Bone Soup, I urge you to either order it at a local Korean restaurant first to see if you like it (it used to cost around $6.99 where we lived) or set aside a day (4-5 hours) to make this delicious dish.
I now make large batches of the broth and freeze them flat in freezer bags so that we are able to enjoy this great comforting dish anytime we want.
IMPORTANT NOTE: You will need to purchase some of these ingredients at a Korean food mart or specialty Asian supermarket if you have one nearby.
Korean Pork Bone Soup (Gamjatang), with potatoes, makes the best comfort food, and a hearty dinner. Full of rich and authentic flavors, it's the best soup recipe to warm up with on a cold winter day!
- 6-8 pieces pork neck bones about 1.4 kg
- 10 cups water
- 1 large onion sliced
- 2 dried shiitake mushrooms
- 4-5 slices ginger to remove pork smell
- 1 tablespoon minced ginger
- 1 dried red chili pepper remove seeds
- 2 tablespoons Korean soybean paste Doenjang (found in Korean or Asian supermarkets)
- 6-8 cloves garlic minced
- 3 tablespoons fish sauce
- 3 tablespoons cooking wine
- 1 tablespoons Korean red pepper paste Gochujang (found in Korean or Asian supermarkets)
- 2 tablespoons Korean coarse red pepper powder Gochugaru (found in Korean or Asian supermarkets)
- 4 large white potatoes peeled, quartered
- 1/4-1/2 napa cabbage sliced in quarters blanched
- 2 stalks of green onions diced
- 1/2 cup Asian chives diced
- 10 Perilla leaves, sliced in thick strips (found in Korean or Asian supermarkets)
- Roasted sesame seeds
- Black pepper
- Soak the pork bones in a large bowl in cold water for 2 hours to remove any blood. Drain water and wash bones.
- Put the bones into a large stock pot and fill with enough water to cover the bones. Add 4-5 slices of sliced ginger (to remove the pork smell). Boil water and remove any scum that surfaces to top of water.
- Drain water, discard ginger slices and rinse the pork bones.
- Add 10 cups of new water to pork bones and boil again.
Add sliced onion, dried shitake mushrooms, minced ginger, soy bean paste and dried red chili pepper to pot. Boil the pot for 1-1/2 hours over medium heat.
About 1-1/2 hours later, take the red hot chili pepper and shiitake mushrooms out of the pot.
- Slice shiitake mushrooms into bite sized pieces.
- In a small bowl, combine the minced garlic, fish sauce, cooking wine, Korean red pepper paste and Korean coarse red pepper powder in a bowl.
- Add the sauce, potatoes, Napa cabbage, green onions, asian chives, soy bean sprouts, Perilla leaves and the chopped shiitake mushrooms into the soup. Simmer on medium heat for another 30 minutes.
- minutes later, transfer the soup into a serving bowl or Korean earthenware, top with sesame seeds and/or black pepper.
- Serve with rice and/or Korean banchan (Korean side dishes).
This soup takes time and patience and requires some ingredients from a Korean or Asian supermarket but the flavorful broth combined with the fall of the bone pork will be well worth the effort. The total time from start to finish to complete will take around 4-5 hours.
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE:
Slow cooker / Crockpot Chicken Lo Mein Noodles
Shrimp Stir-Fry Lo Mein Noodles
Vietnamese Pho – Beef Rice Noodle Soup
Stir Fried Shanghai Noodles with Ground Pork and Napa Cabbage
Did you try this recipe?
Meg -
Thanks for sharing this recipe, it sounds delicious. Do you mind sharing how to save and freeze the broth and use for another time? This is my husband’s favorite soup and i’D love to make this easier To get multiple dinners over time.
Elle -
Hi Emily,
This looks delicious. I’m going to try it today and wanted to know how spicy this soup is? Can I make it mild so that my 3 year old cn drink IT too?
Thanks!
Kelly -
Hi Elle, this soup does have a spicy kick to it. My son is 3 as well and this is a little bit spicy for him. You may have to leave out the the dried red chili pepper as well as the Korean red pepper powder (Gochugaru) in the recipe. Hope you enjoy the soup as much as we do 🙂
Krista @ joyful healthy eats -
Kelly, this looks incredible. The pictures are beautiful and makes the food pop! I haven’t had Korean food before, but after this definitely gonna give it a try! Pinning, thanks sweet friend!
Kelly -
Thanks so much and for pinning Krista 🙂 We just tried Korean food a few years ago too and have been hooked ever since since we love the earthy spicy flavors. Happy New Year and hope you have a great weekend sweetie 🙂
Laura / Savory Snacks and Treats -
I tried making this gamjatang yesterday and it was to die for! Tastes just like if not better than the local Korean restaurant we frequent. Thanks for the superb recipe and step by step photos and instructions. Much appreciated:)
Kelly -
Thanks so much for coming back and letting me know Laura. I am so happy that you had great results with the Gamjatang:)
Emily @ Good Eats, Clean Plate -
Holy yum, this looks delicious! We love Gamjatang in our house and I will look like a hero if I can make the dish look half as good as that. Thank you for sharing!
Kelly -
Thanks Emily. You should definitely give this recipe a go if you are able to set aside the required amount of time – the results will be amazing and you WILL look like a hero 🙂
marvin -
No Asian markets near me do you need to use perilla leaves
Kelly -
Hi Marvin, no, it’s not necessary but the perilla leaves certainly give the pork bone soup that authentic distinct aroma and flavor. It still tastes wonderful without it though 🙂 Hope that helps and thanks for stopping by 🙂