Soups & Stews · 9 of Ladles · Nine of Ladles

Gamjatang

Gamjatang (Pork Backbone Stew) · 감자탕

Difficulty: Medium
Time to plan: About 3+ hr
Serves: 2–3 servings
Recipe: 6 steps
Listed places: 2

Decision notes · editorial comparison of references and preparation plans

How should I compare a shared pork-backbone pot and a single bowl?

First consider whether you want to share bone-in meat. Against a single haejangguk bowl, bones, party size, noodles and fried rice matter more than counting potatoes.

Check before ordering or preparing: Check shared pot/solo bowl, bone portions and extras. At home, use the neck-bone/cabbage/sprout formula and regular pot below; do not transfer it to pressure-cooker ratios.

Source for the chosen formulation and sequence. Measurements retain source units; not our kitchen validation. Maangchi · gamjatang · author recipe · 2026-10-24

Alternative to compare: Haejangguk (Hangover Soup)Make an order card Prepare this version

Food notes and context

This is Maangchi’s 2–3-serving pork-neck-bone, cabbage and soybean-sprout version. Water and paste/sauce quantities are separated. The source’s differing onion counts are resolved by following its directions, explicitly noted below; no kitchen-test result is claimed.

An individual bone-soup bowl and a shared gamjatang pot may differ substantially in size. Arrange a bowl for discarded bones and serving utensils, then check whether finishing rice or noodles are separate orders.

Cook this version

Images are AI-generated illustrations, not records of a kitchen test. Follow the written ingredients and steps. Ingredients and substitutions guide

Times and yields are planning values for this editorial preparation, not measured kitchen results. Substitutions can change flavor, texture and cooking needs. Read product directions and our measurement and doneness guide together.

Prep: Blanch, vegetables, paste
Cook: 90 min + 30–40 min
Wait: Cold soak 30 min
Ready in: About 3+ hr

Editorial total includes preparation, not a measured test. The source lists 4 cooking onions but uses 3 in its directions; we choose 3 plus 1 garnish. Half-cup water is split ¼ paste/¼ finish. Not a pressure-cooker conversion.

Ingredients (2–3 servings)

Ingredient	Amount	Substitute abroad
Pork neck or spine bones	2½–3 lb
Sliced ginger	1 oz
Doenjang	2 tbsp
Dried shiitake mushrooms	2
Medium onion, sliced	1
Large dried red chili	1
Napa cabbage, core removed	1 lb
Medium peeled potatoes	2–3
Soybean sprouts	8 oz
Green onions, cut 5 cm	3 (source directions)
Chopped green onion	1
Perilla leaves	8–12
Minced garlic	6 cloves
Gochugaru	3 tbsp
Gochujang	1 tbsp
Fish sauce	3 tbsp
Finely ground hulled perilla-seed powder	1/4 cup
Ground black pepper	1/2 tsp
Stock water	11 cups
Water for paste	1/4 cup
Finishing water	1/4 cup
Soaking and blanching water	To cover; discard
Cooked rice	Accompaniment for 2–3 servings

Step by step

1.Prepare bones and pot
Soak bones in cold water at least 30 min; drain. Refrigerate longer waits. Use a lidded stockpot with headroom for 11 cups plus bones/vegetables; have tongs, strainer, individual bowls and a bone plate.
2.Blanch cabbage and bones
Blanch cabbage 1 min, cool in cold water and tear lengthwise. Blanch bones in the same boiling water, covered, 7 min on medium-high. Discard water; remove fragments and foam from blanched bones.
3.First simmer
Combine bones, ginger, doenjang, mushrooms, onion, dried chili and 11 cups water. Cook covered on medium-high 90 min; watch the boil and liquid level, adjusting heat to prevent overflow or drying.
4.Measure paste
Combine garlic, chili flakes/paste, fish sauce, perilla powder and pepper with ¼ cup water; reserve the other ¼ cup for finishing.
5.Finish vegetables
Slice cooked mushrooms and return them. Add cabbage, sprouts, 3 green onions, potatoes, paste and remaining ¼ cup water; cook covered 30–40 min. Check potato centers with a skewer and meat doneness; extend as needed.
6.Share safely
Stir in perilla leaves; top with chopped green onion. Offer rice separately and ladle shared soup into individual bowls. Watch for bone fragments.

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People eating (1–20)

Text to take with you

감자탕 · Gamjatang · Gamjatang (Pork Backbone Stew)

1명이 먹으려고 합니다. 인분·접시·냄비 중 주문 단위와 최소 주문량, 추천 양을 알려 주세요. / This is for 1 person. Please explain whether you sell portions, plates or pots, the minimum order and the recommended amount.

밥·반찬이 포함되나요? 따로 주문하는 항목과 추가 비용을 알려 주세요. / Are rice and side dishes included? Please explain separate items and extra charges.

주재료와 양념에 무엇이 들어가나요? / What are the main ingredients and seasonings?

Check shared pot/solo bowl, bone portions and extras. At home, use the neck-bone/cabbage/sprout formula and regular pot below; do not transfer it to pressure-cooker ratios.

If you have ingredient restrictions, name them and ask about sauces, toppings and preparation equipment. The seller must confirm whether changes are possible.

https://k-roastmysoul.com/en/foods/gamjatang

Measurement, doneness and storage references

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Your notes

Places to check when planning a meal

Candidates to investigate for this food. Maps use sourced location records; confirm the current menu, opening and booking directly. This list is not a tasting review or an award certification.

Taejo Gamjaguk

Seongbuk-gu, Seoul (Sungshin Women's University)

서울특별시 성북구 보문로34길 43 (동선동1가)Location sources checked 2026.08.09

Public-record location check, not a live opening-hours guarantee. Confirm with the restaurant before visiting.

Location source 1

Directions Naver Map

Cheongjinok

Jongno, Seoul

서울특별시 종로구 종로3길 32, 1~4층 (청진동)Location sources checked 2026.08.09

Public-record location check, not a live opening-hours guarantee. Confirm with the restaurant before visiting.

Location source 1

Directions Naver Map

The fictional face of this dish

Earth element · a round, full face

You draw rich broth from what was nearly thrown away. The grit to boil all night and the generosity to share it bone and all: the guardian of the working alley.

Upright: The care that picks the last shred of meat off the bone pays off today. You draw rich broth where others walked away, and thrift is today's weapon.

Reversed: You are drooping like over-boiled cabbage. Even bone-deep hard times turn nutty with one spoon of perilla powder, so add some fragrance to your broth today.

The K-Roast take: Grandma's roast

Fictional food metaphors inspired by traditional face-reading, not measurements of your face or personality.

That chin is thick as an iron pot: late-life fortune. Gamjatang is that kind of dish: pork spine bones nobody valued, simmered overnight into a whole cauldron of working-class sustenance. Your life is that backbone. The hardships nobody pays you for now are steeping all night, becoming the rich broth of your later years.

Those brows are dark: a face of loyalty. Do you know why gamjatang houses stay open to dawn? To keep the last table for the people who finish their day late. Your loyalty runs those hours. Even after everyone else closes, your light stays on for your people. That single lamp is why your side never runs short of company.

That mouth is big and easy: a face of nerve. Gamjatang is no solo meal; everyone circles the pot, each gripping a bone. When you open the board, the whole table drops its manners and picks up the bones by hand. Disarming formality is your gift. Just ask about stomach capacity before ordering the fried rice; your nerve has burst other people's waistbands.

The thing once dismissed as scrap bones became the byword for rich broth: that is gamjatang's history. Your bone-deep hard times all become broth once simmered. Lay on the cabbage, add the perilla powder, and keep your pot boiling to the end.
Grandma's blessing

Table compatibility

Fried rice with seaweed in the last of your broth is a match written into the constitution of the gamjatang table. With cool kongguksu the temperature gap spans a whole season, so live apart: summer for them, winter for you.

Gamjatang

How should I compare a shared pork-backbone pot and a single bowl?

Food notes and context

Cook this version

Ingredients (2–3 servings)

Step by step

1.Prepare bones and pot

2.Blanch cabbage and bones

3.First simmer

4.Measure paste

5.Finish vegetables

6.Share safely