Gamjatang

Gamjatang (감자탕) is a Korean soup made by simmering pork backbones for an extended period with dried outer cabbage leaves and potatoes. Its broth is based on doenjang and red pepper powder and thickened with ground perilla seeds. A hot-pot dining convention has become established in which diners pick the meat from between the bones, then fry rice in the remaining broth or add noodles and other extras. Although its name contains the Korean word for potato, its etymology has not been conclusively established, and the debate itself has become one of the dish's defining narratives.

• The gamjappyeo cut theory: This theory holds that gamjatang acquired its name because a particular part of the pork backbone was called gamjappyeo, or “gamja bone.” It spread online in the early 2000s and came to be treated as the established explanation, but no documentary evidence supports it. The National Institute of Korean Language has stated that it is unclear whether “gamja” refers to a part of a bone and that the explanation appears to be a folk invention; “gamjappyeo” is also absent as a headword from the Standard Korean Language Dictionary. Butchers' use of “gamjappyeo” is more likely a label indicating that the backbone is intended for gamjatang, which later became established in reverse.

• The potato theory: According to this theory, the original dish was ppyeodagwitang, a backbone soup made with dried outer cabbage leaves, and potatoes became common as a substitute crop during the Japanese colonial period, leading them to be added to the dish and eventually incorporated into its name.

• Other theories: Some claim that the name derives from gamjeotang (甘猪湯), meaning a soup made with sweet-tasting pork, while another theory holds that the Chinese lamb-backbone dish yangxiezi (羊蝎子) changed through the intermediate name galjatang. Neither theory has conclusive evidence.

The theory that the dish originated in Incheon is the most widely accepted. According to this narrative, the opening of Incheon Port in 1883 increased meat consumption and the availability of by-products, and laborers drawn to the construction of the Gyeongin railway in the late 1890s, along with dockworkers, relied on inexpensive pork-backbone soup to satisfy their hunger and recover from drinking. A theory that it originated in the Jeolla region during the Three Kingdoms period also circulates, but it lacks documentary evidence. The oldest restaurant confirmed by records is Buamjip (부암집), which opened in Seoul's Donam-dong in 1958. Its founder, Lee Du-hwan (이두환), sold the dish under the name “gamjaguk,” and the restaurant developed into today's Taejo Gamjaguk (태조감자국), which has been designated a Seoul Future Heritage site.

They are the same dish served differently. It is generally called gamjatang when two or more servings are served in a hot pot, and ppyeodagwi haejangguk when a single serving is served in an earthenware pot. The latter merely tends to be a lighter, broth-focused dish, while the hot-pot version tends to be richer, with potatoes and additional ingredients for sharing over drinks; both have the same roots.

• Ugeoji and siraegi: Thick layers of boiled outer cabbage leaves or dried radish greens are placed in a doenjang-based broth. Together with the bones, these vegetables account for half of the broth's flavor.

• Ground perilla seeds: A generous amount is sprinkled on at the end to add nuttiness and thicken the broth. Topping it with perilla leaves to add another layer of aroma is also part of the standard preparation.

Bone broth develops a deeper flavor the longer it simmers, and the practical difficulty of extinguishing the fire under the stockpot led to the custom of staying open 24 hours. As gamjatang became franchised in the 1990s, 24-hour gamjatang restaurants along major roads became a standard part of the urban landscape, and demand for hangover meals in the early morning after nights of drinking now accounts for a major share of sales for this type of establishment.

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