Gamjatang (Pork Bone Soup)
This spicy Korean soup is warming and full of flavor.
Serves: 4 Prep time: 1h30 Total time: 3h
INGREDIENTS FOR BONE BROTH
- 3 lbs pork bones (give or take)
- 8 cups vegetable broth
- 3 medium yellow potatoes, cut into chunks with skin removed
- 8 cabbage leaves, preferably napa
- hot peppers, diced, optional
- 1 onion, peeled and cut into quarters
- A few white onions, chopped into small pieces
- 6 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 large tuber ginger, peeled
- 1 T black pepper
add these separately, at the very last step * sprigs fresh basil, thinly sliced * sprigs perilla leaves, thinly sliced
SEASONING BASE INGREDIENTS * 1 T Korean fish sauce * 1 T minced ginger * 4 T gochugaru (Korean chili flakes) * 2 T doenjang (Korean soybean paste) * 3 T rice wine * 2 T minced garlic
INSTRUCTIONS
- In a large bowl or pot filled with cold water, soak pork bones for at least an hour.
- Pour out water and refill. Place pot on stove burner on high heat, bring to a boil and boil for ten minutes with the lid tightly covered. Drain and rinse bones.
- Return bones to same pot and fill with vegetable broth. Add vegetables except potatoes and simmer on medium heat for 90 minutes, covered.
- Meanwhile, boil potatoes in a separate bowl until not quite tender.
- Remove potatoes and set aside in a bowl.
- In the same bowl you used for the potatoes, fill with water, bring to a boil, and quickly blanch napa cabbage. Drain, cool, and tear leaves into large strips.
- Sieve the broth, catching it in a pot or bowl (keep the bones for decoration and flavor in the soup, but you can discard all the veggies at this point).
- Pour back into the pot then add the pork bones, cabbage, potatoes, and various seasonings (from the seasoning ingredients list). Boil until potatoes are fully cooked, approximately 8 minutes.
- Add perilla leaves and basil and boil additional 2 minutes. Serve hot.
