Ultimate Korean Hangover Soup l GAMJATANG, Spicy Pork Bone Soup

Have you ever seen a meat mountain? I'm not talking about some kind of burger or sandwich. I'm talking about the real meat mountain that blows your mind. So if you're a meat lover, you will never forget today. All right, are you guys ready? Let's get started. Today, we are making gamjatang, one of the most popular Korean hangover soups. You will be surprised by the deep broth and the tender meat between the bones. Trust me, once you try, you can't help falling in love with this. For this, you will need napa cabbage, potato, green onion, perilla leaf, chili pepper, and 2 kilograms of pork spine or neck bone. You can easily find this at Korean grocery store, and they're actually quite cheap. But if there's no Korean supermarket near your place, so there's no way to get these, then you can use a pork leg or pork shoulder. But you know what? All the good flavor comes out of the bones rather than the meat, so there might be a slight difference in taste. When you make soups with this kind of bones, you shouldn't really have a gamey taste to it. So to take care of that, people wash their bones and soak them in cold water to get rid of the blood inside. But if you're using fresh bones like me, you can't skip that process. But if you're using frozen ones, then you really need to soak them in cold water for more than five hours. Otherwise, you won't get the best taste out of it. Once you're done, blanch it in hot water for about five minutes. You see this foamy stuff on top? That is the blood that I talked about. Even if you use fresh meat, there's still a lot of blood left inside, so that's why we're doing this. When time's up, dump the water and give them a good rinse. Otherwise, all the impurities between the bones will go into the broth, and you're not gonna like that. For information, when you do this, please be careful because they can be pretty sharp. At this point, some of you might say, Aaron, if you cook that way, you're gonna lose all the juice inside. I'm glad you brought that up. Unlike your expectations, it's not gonna lose its flavor because to get the flavor out of the bones, you need to boil it for at least more than an hour, so don't worry about it. Now, place them in a large pot. Add three liters of water, two stalks of green onions, and bring it to a boil over high heat. Once it's bubbling hot, reduce the heat to medium heat. If the foamy stuff appears on top again, grab a spoon or ladle and skim that off. That will give you more clean broth at the end. After that, cover with a lid and let it continue to boil for about an hour. Meanwhile, let's prep other ingredients. Normally, for gamjatang, we use this shiregi, not Claire's hair. Sorry about that. I went too far. Anyway, I think it's difficult to get this outside of Korea, so today, I'm gonna replace it with this napa cabbage. You already like it, right? Let's cut this in half and pull this apart like this. I'm gonna use about 500 grams of outer leaves. For information, if somebody is watching you, please try this. Then, they will think you're a Korean master chef or something. You're gonna be the big star. Next, potatoes. If it's too big, it's gonna take a long time to cook, so let's cut them in half. You know what? There are not many types of potatoes in Korea, so I always use this. But if you ask me, like, what kind of potatoes gives me the best result? Then, I highly recommend using yukan gold potatoes. And then, chop some green onion into small pieces. Yeah, the green onions are already in the pot, but if this guy doesn't go into the soup as a garnish, I wouldn't call this Korean dish anymore. Or more precisely, it's not my version of gamjatang, so stop doubting and just prep lots of green onions. It's always more green onion, more delicious. This time, let's prep some perilla leaves. I'm gonna use about 10 leaves. Just cut off the stems and roughly chop them into small pieces. And if you like spicy food, chop one or two chili peppers for some extra kick. Lastly, let's blanch our cabbage. If you skip this step and just put it in the broth, the soup might have kind of like a grassy taste, and it may get too sweet because of the natural sweetness from the cabbage. So, I know it's a bit annoying, but do not skip this step. Once they get softened, give them a good rinse and squeeze out the water. Now, all you need to do is tear off the cabbage. Of course, you could use your knife or scissors, but this is the vibe. So, I want you to use your hands. Now, let's move on to the seasoning paste. Put 5 tablespoons of Korean chili pepper flakes, 2 tablespoons of minced garlic, 2 tablespoons of Korean soybean paste, 1 tablespoon of Korean chili paste, 2 tablespoons of mirin, 1 tablespoon of dashida, Korean beef stock powder, 1 tablespoon of fish sauce, 1 tablespoon of chicken powder, 1 teaspoon of black pepper, and give it a good mix. It's almost there, but we need one more ingredient. That is deulkkaegaru, perilla seeds powder. It's basically toasted, grounded perilla seeds. So, it will add that wonderful nuttiness into your soup. So, I'm gonna add 5 tablespoons of it. And then, let's make a dipping sauce. Put 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, 2 tablespoons of mirin, 2 tablespoons of vinegar, and add 1 tablespoon of Korean mustard. It's hard to get this? Then, what about wasabi? That would be a good substitute. Alright, it's been an hour. Let's check our broth. You see it turned into a creamy and milk color, right? That's exactly what you're looking for. Besides this pork bone soup, you can actually use this for pretty much any recipe, such as ramen or jjamppong. So, please give this a try in many ways. You're gonna love it so much. Now, let's remove the green onions and take out the meat. Here, some of you might ask, Aaron, the longer you boil it, the better it's going to be. Why do we take them out? Yes, you're right. But if you keep boiling this for about an hour, all the meat is gonna fall apart from the bones, which means you can't eat this like a cave person. Here, the meat has to be nice and tender, but we still have to keep the bones attached. That's the key. For the pork bone soup, we need about 8 cups or 2 liters of the broth. So, if it's less than that, add some more water. After that, put the potatoes, cabbage, and the seasoning paste. And then, put the lid back on and cook this over medium-high heat for about 15 to 20 minutes. Once the potatoes are cooked through, add in the bones and let it cook for another 5 minutes. That's it. Alright, our soup is done. Let's make a mountain. Just like playing Jenga, stack up all the pieces one by one. And then, sprinkle some green onions, chili peppers, perilla leaves, and pour the soup. Lastly, add 1 tablespoon of perilla seeds powder. Now, all we have left is to serve this with a bowl of stuff. That's it. You wanna know how it tastes? Alright, let's call our taste tester. Claire. Oh my gosh! It's unbelievable! It's insane! It's literally a mountain of ganjatang. You can make this curry at home? Oh my gosh! I should take a picture first. Guys, I'm super excited. I can't wait to try it. I'll take out the soup from the top ones and start with the bottom ones. I can already feel the meat is so tender. Oh my gosh, how many pieces are there? It's heavy! I'm not even done yet. I'll see you in 5 minutes. Look at that. Oh my gosh. I can't resist it. Guys, ready? I'm so ready. I should eat it with my hands, but it's still hot. I'll eat it with chopsticks. Look at that. Look at the meat. You can just scrape it off like this. And dip it in the sauce. Ready. Yes. It's insanely soft. Oh my gosh. It makes it extra delicious. Before I met you. You gotta use your hands and break it down. Suck it up, everything. This is what I'm talking about. I lost my mind while eating the meat. I should try the soup too. It's good. It doesn't taste like home-cooked food at all. There's no empty space. It's so good. Obviously, it's not the main star of the show, but you gotta try the Napa cabbage. It's gonna be so good. It's so good with the sauce. You're gonna do it, right? I know it takes some time. But as you can see, it's not that difficult. Which means it is the best dish that you can show off your Korean cooking skills. So how about trying it this weekend? I'm pretty sure your family or friends will think you're a master of Korean food. Alright, this is it for today. And I'll see you next time.