Yeonhee’s Gamjatang (Pork Backbone Stew)
Yeonhee Choi was born in Boryung-si, South Korea in 1957 as the eldest one among five sisters and one brother. She is the mother of three sons and the grandmother of two granddaughter and three grandsons. She now lives in Yongin-si, South Korea with her beloved husband. She is the paternal grandmother of Jiwoo, and Jiwoo loves her foods.
“할머니, 어떻게 요리 배우셨어요?”
“안 배웠지. 그냥 살다 보니 알게 됐어. 이거 넣으면 맛있겠다, 저거 넣으면 더 좋겠다… 그렇게.”
She tells me this with a shrug, as if it’s the simplest thing in the world — that a lifetime of feeding people could be learned by just *doing*. No measurements. No recipes. Just the quiet confidence of someone who has tried, failed, and tried again.
Gamjatang came to her like that. Pork backbone, cheap and heavy with marrow. Soak an hour to draw out the blood. Boil once, drain. Boil again with a little doenjang, scallions, garlic — whatever was in the kitchen that day. At the end, a cloud of perilla seed powder. The broth thickens, the meat slips from the bone.
“울애기가 그거 참 좋아했지. 몇 번이고 말하더라. ‘그 감자탕 진짜 맛있었어요.’ 그래서 다음에 오면 또 해줘야겠다 했지.”
Her voice softens when she says this, the way it does when she talks about her grandchildren.
But not all her memories are of soup. There’s the pomegranate tree in her yard, back when fruit was not wrapped in plastic, not priced by the kilo. The fruit would split open in the sun, spilling jewel-red seeds. She would eat them without ceremony.
And the plums — 자두 — tart and sweet at once, eaten straight from the branch, juice running down her wrists. They were ordinary then, part of the season’s rhythm.
“지금은 귀한 거지. 근데 그때는 그냥 거기 있었어. 먹고 싶으면 나가서 따면 됐지.”
She laughs, and for a moment I can see her younger, standing in the yard, sun on her shoulders.
The world is different now. New dishes appear every day, flavors from everywhere at your fingertips. But when Halmoni cooks, her hands still reach for what she knows — the broth that starts with doenjang, the fruit that stains your fingers, the food that carries the shape of love.
And in that moment, I realize — what I’m really recording is not just her recipes, but the way she remembers.
🌸 Recipe Box: Gamjatang (Korean Pork Backbone Stew)
Ingredients (4 servings)
2 lbs (1 kg) pork neck bones (or pork spine bones)
3 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
1/2 small napa cabbage (or 1/4 green cabbage), cut into large pieces
1 bunch perilla leaves (optional, but authentic)
2 green onions, cut into 2-inch pieces
1 medium onion, quartered
6 cups water
Seasoning Paste
3 tbsp Korean soybean paste (doenjang)
2 tbsp Korean red chili paste (gochujang)
2 tbsp Korean chili flakes (gochugaru)
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp fish sauce (optional)
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 tsp grated ginger
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp roasted perilla seed powder (if available)
Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Prepare the pork bones
Soak pork bones in cold water for 1–2 hours, changing the water once or twice, to remove excess blood.
In a large pot, add pork bones and enough water to cover. Boil for 10 minutes, then discard the water and rinse bones under cold water. This removes impurities.
Make the broth
Place cleaned pork bones in a large pot with 6 cups water and the quartered onion.
Bring to a boil, then reduce to medium heat and simmer for about 1 hour until the broth is rich and milky.
Prepare the seasoning paste
In a bowl, mix all seasoning paste ingredients together until smooth.
Cook the stew
Add potatoes, cabbage, and the seasoning paste into the broth with pork bones.
Stir well and simmer for another 30–40 minutes, until potatoes are tender.
Finish and serve
Add perilla leaves, green onions, and perilla seed powder (if using). Simmer for 5 more minutes.
Taste and adjust seasoning with salt, pepper, or more soy sauce if needed.
Serve hot
Gamjatang is best served bubbling hot, with steamed rice and side dishes (banchan).