Gamjatang (pork bone stew)
Stews
Pork spine bones simmered for hours with potatoes, cabbage greens and perilla leaves in a red broth thickened with ground perilla seeds. A pot for two or more is called gamjatang; the single-bowl version is usually sold as ppyeo-haejangguk.
Why this list cannot be complete
Many Korean restaurants are franchises whose recipes are not published, and shops create their own versions of the same dish. A menu name often does not tell you what is inside. This page covers the traditional recipe and the variations that have spread widely, not every shop.
The seasoning differs from shop to shop; some use doenjang with gochujang, others doenjang with chilli powder, plus various soy and fish sauces; and many shops offer noodle or dough add-ins for the leftover broth.
When you are not sure what a shop puts in, show your card to say what you cannot eat, or show the list below and ask the staff to point to what is in theirs.
What usually goes in
이 음식에 아래 재료 중 들어가는 것이 있나요?
For the staff: does this dish contain any of the ingredients below?
The stew is made from pork spine or neck bones, and you eat the meat by picking it off the bones at the table; the broth is a long-simmered pork bone stock.
Perilla comes in twice: ground perilla seed powder is stirred into the red broth, and whole perilla leaves are laid on top of the pot.
Doenjang (soybean paste) seasons the vegetables and the broth, and soy sauce is often added as well.
Garlic goes in both while the bones are boiled for stock and again, minced, in the seasoning paste.
Most recipes season the stew with gochujang, and many commercial gochujang pastes contain wheat; many shops also add ramen, udon or sujebi (hand-torn dough) to the leftover broth.
Many recipes boil an onion with the bones to flavour the stock, so it can be dissolved in the broth even when you see no onion pieces.
Some recipes season the paste with anchovy fish sauce or tuna extract sauce, which ends up in the pork broth.
At least one popular home recipe simmers half an apple with the bones to soften the pork smell; this is a cook's choice, not a standard step.
- Usually in it
- Most kitchens put this in. Assume it is there unless the staff tell you otherwise.
- Sometimes in it
- It depends on the recipe and the brand of sauce, so it is worth asking.
- Rarely in it
- The usual recipe does not call for it, but some kitchens still use it.
Checked 8 of the 33 ingredients this site covers. An ingredient that is not listed here has simply not been checked yet — that is not the same as it not being in the dish.
This page describes how the dish is usually made in Korea. Every kitchen works differently, so always show your card and ask the staff before you order.
Going on your card
- Pork (돼지고기)
- Perilla seed (들깨 · 들기름)
- Soybean (대두)
- Garlic (마늘)
- Wheat (밀)
- Onion (양파)
- Jeotgal and fish sauce (젓갈 · 액젓)
- Apple (사과)
Common variations
If you see one of these names on a menu, expect the ingredients below on top of the basic dish. Shops differ, so check with the staff.
- 라면 · 우동 · 수제비 사리 추가 감자탕Gamjatang with ramen, udon or sujebi add-ins
Adds: Wheat (밀)
After the meat is eaten, wheat noodles or hand-torn dough are cooked in the remaining broth.
Diets
- VeganNot suitable
Pork spine bones are the main ingredient and the broth is made from them.
- Lacto-ovo vegetarianNot suitable
The meat on the pork bones is what you eat, and the whole broth is pork stock.
- HalalNot suitable
It is a pork dish; pork spine bones and their meat are the base.
- No porkNot suitable
Pork bones are the main ingredient; the single-serving ppyeo-haejangguk is the same pork bone soup.
Other dishes with the same ingredients
- Budae-jjigae (army base stew)Pork · Wheat · Soybean · Garlic · Onion — Usually in it / Salted fermented seafood (Jeotgal) & Fish sauce — Sometimes in it
- Jjamppong (spicy seafood noodle soup)Wheat · Pork · Soybean · Garlic · Onion — Usually in it
- Mandu (Korean dumplings)Wheat · Pork · Soybean · Garlic — Usually in it / Onion · Salted fermented seafood (Jeotgal) & Fish sauce · Perilla seed (incl. perilla oil and powder) — Sometimes in it
Read more
- Soy in Korean foodWhere this ingredient hides across Korean food
- Perilla in Korean foodWhere this ingredient hides across Korean food
- Gluten-free travel in KoreaWhere wheat hides in sauces and broths
- Vegan dining in KoreaWhere meat and seafood hide in Korean cooking
- Emergency allergy help in KoreaWhat to do and say if a reaction starts
- Halal food in KoreaWhere pork, alcohol, and non-halal meat hide in Korean cooking
- Temple food and Buddhist vegetarian dining in KoreaWhere garlic, green onion, and other pungent vegetables hide
Sources we checked
Each finding on this page lists the recipes and references it is based on. Source titles appear in their original language and are not translated, and each link opens the other site in a new tab.
Show the 6 sources behind each finding
What usually goes in
Pork · Usually in it
- Wikipedia, "Gamja-tang" — soup made from the spine or neck bones of a pig, often with potatoes, cellophane noodles, greens, perilla leaves, green onions, hot peppers and ground perilla seeds (opens in a new tab)
- 위키백과, 「감자탕」 — 돼지 등뼈 · 감자 · 우거지 · 간 들깨 · 깻잎 · 붉은 고추 · 파 · 마늘, 된장과 고춧가루로 양념; 1인분을 뚝배기에 담으면 뼈다귀해장국 (opens in a new tab)
Perilla seed · Usually in it
- Wikipedia, "Gamja-tang" — soup made from the spine or neck bones of a pig, often with potatoes, cellophane noodles, greens, perilla leaves, green onions, hot peppers and ground perilla seeds (opens in a new tab)
- 위키백과, 「감자탕」 — 돼지 등뼈 · 감자 · 우거지 · 간 들깨 · 깻잎 · 붉은 고추 · 파 · 마늘, 된장과 고춧가루로 양념; 1인분을 뚝배기에 담으면 뼈다귀해장국 (opens in a new tab)
- 컬리, 「돼지등뼈와 시래기를 듬뿍 넣은 푸짐한 감자탕」 — 육수에 된장 · 양파 · 통마늘 · 생강; 양념에 된장 · 고추장 · 국간장 · 참치액 · 다진 마늘 · 들기름; 깻잎 · 들깨가루 (opens in a new tab)
- 만개의레시피, 「시간이 요리해주는 감자탕」 — 양파 · 사과 · 마늘 · 생강과 함께 뼈를 끓임; 양념장에 멸치액젓 · 국간장 · 들깨가루 · 다진 마늘 · 고추장 · 된장; 깻잎 (opens in a new tab)
Soybean · Usually in it
- 위키백과, 「감자탕」 — 돼지 등뼈 · 감자 · 우거지 · 간 들깨 · 깻잎 · 붉은 고추 · 파 · 마늘, 된장과 고춧가루로 양념; 1인분을 뚝배기에 담으면 뼈다귀해장국 (opens in a new tab)
- 나무위키, 「감자탕」 — 된장 · 고추장(혹은 고춧가루) · 간장 · 마늘; 남은 국물에 라면 · 수제비 · 우동 같은 사리를 곁들이거나 밥을 볶아 먹기도 함 (opens in a new tab)
- 컬리, 「돼지등뼈와 시래기를 듬뿍 넣은 푸짐한 감자탕」 — 육수에 된장 · 양파 · 통마늘 · 생강; 양념에 된장 · 고추장 · 국간장 · 참치액 · 다진 마늘 · 들기름; 깻잎 · 들깨가루 (opens in a new tab)
- 만개의레시피, 「시간이 요리해주는 감자탕」 — 양파 · 사과 · 마늘 · 생강과 함께 뼈를 끓임; 양념장에 멸치액젓 · 국간장 · 들깨가루 · 다진 마늘 · 고추장 · 된장; 깻잎 (opens in a new tab)
Garlic · Usually in it
- 위키백과, 「감자탕」 — 돼지 등뼈 · 감자 · 우거지 · 간 들깨 · 깻잎 · 붉은 고추 · 파 · 마늘, 된장과 고춧가루로 양념; 1인분을 뚝배기에 담으면 뼈다귀해장국 (opens in a new tab)
- 컬리, 「돼지등뼈와 시래기를 듬뿍 넣은 푸짐한 감자탕」 — 육수에 된장 · 양파 · 통마늘 · 생강; 양념에 된장 · 고추장 · 국간장 · 참치액 · 다진 마늘 · 들기름; 깻잎 · 들깨가루 (opens in a new tab)
- 만개의레시피, 「시간이 요리해주는 감자탕」 — 양파 · 사과 · 마늘 · 생강과 함께 뼈를 끓임; 양념장에 멸치액젓 · 국간장 · 들깨가루 · 다진 마늘 · 고추장 · 된장; 깻잎 (opens in a new tab)
Wheat · Usually in it
- Celiac.com, "Is Gochujang Gluten-Free? What to Know Before You Buy" — many commercial versions contain wheat, barley malt or wheat-based soy sauce (opens in a new tab)
- 나무위키, 「감자탕」 — 된장 · 고추장(혹은 고춧가루) · 간장 · 마늘; 남은 국물에 라면 · 수제비 · 우동 같은 사리를 곁들이거나 밥을 볶아 먹기도 함 (opens in a new tab)
- 컬리, 「돼지등뼈와 시래기를 듬뿍 넣은 푸짐한 감자탕」 — 육수에 된장 · 양파 · 통마늘 · 생강; 양념에 된장 · 고추장 · 국간장 · 참치액 · 다진 마늘 · 들기름; 깻잎 · 들깨가루 (opens in a new tab)
- 만개의레시피, 「시간이 요리해주는 감자탕」 — 양파 · 사과 · 마늘 · 생강과 함께 뼈를 끓임; 양념장에 멸치액젓 · 국간장 · 들깨가루 · 다진 마늘 · 고추장 · 된장; 깻잎 (opens in a new tab)
Onion · Usually in it
Jeotgal and fish sauce · Sometimes in it
Apple · Sometimes in it
Common variations
라면 · 우동 · 수제비 사리 추가 감자탕 · Gamjatang with ramen, udon or sujebi add-ins
Diets
Vegan · Not suitable
- Wikipedia, "Gamja-tang" — soup made from the spine or neck bones of a pig, often with potatoes, cellophane noodles, greens, perilla leaves, green onions, hot peppers and ground perilla seeds (opens in a new tab)
- 위키백과, 「감자탕」 — 돼지 등뼈 · 감자 · 우거지 · 간 들깨 · 깻잎 · 붉은 고추 · 파 · 마늘, 된장과 고춧가루로 양념; 1인분을 뚝배기에 담으면 뼈다귀해장국 (opens in a new tab)
Lacto-ovo vegetarian · Not suitable
- Wikipedia, "Gamja-tang" — soup made from the spine or neck bones of a pig, often with potatoes, cellophane noodles, greens, perilla leaves, green onions, hot peppers and ground perilla seeds (opens in a new tab)
- 위키백과, 「감자탕」 — 돼지 등뼈 · 감자 · 우거지 · 간 들깨 · 깻잎 · 붉은 고추 · 파 · 마늘, 된장과 고춧가루로 양념; 1인분을 뚝배기에 담으면 뼈다귀해장국 (opens in a new tab)
Halal · Not suitable
- Wikipedia, "Gamja-tang" — soup made from the spine or neck bones of a pig, often with potatoes, cellophane noodles, greens, perilla leaves, green onions, hot peppers and ground perilla seeds (opens in a new tab)
- 위키백과, 「감자탕」 — 돼지 등뼈 · 감자 · 우거지 · 간 들깨 · 깻잎 · 붉은 고추 · 파 · 마늘, 된장과 고춧가루로 양념; 1인분을 뚝배기에 담으면 뼈다귀해장국 (opens in a new tab)
No pork · Not suitable
- Wikipedia, "Gamja-tang" — soup made from the spine or neck bones of a pig, often with potatoes, cellophane noodles, greens, perilla leaves, green onions, hot peppers and ground perilla seeds (opens in a new tab)
- 위키백과, 「감자탕」 — 돼지 등뼈 · 감자 · 우거지 · 간 들깨 · 깻잎 · 붉은 고추 · 파 · 마늘, 된장과 고춧가루로 양념; 1인분을 뚝배기에 담으면 뼈다귀해장국 (opens in a new tab)
Each dish is researched by hand from the sources we checked, and nothing here is generated automatically. Recipes vary from kitchen to kitchen, so always confirm with the staff before you order.