Growing up, my grandmother would make this dish for us very rarely. While the name gamja tang, or “potato stew,” suggests that the majestic spud is the star of the show, in actuality the main component of gamja tang is a big piece of pork shoulder. I think this is why my grandmother rarely cooked this dish—pork is tricky to cook with and it often left our kitchen smelling a little…funky. When I decided to go plant-based, I was excited to recreate this dish so that it truly lived up to its name by restoring the potato to its rightful place as the star!
Recipe information
Yield
Serves 3 or 4
Ingredients
For the broth
For the sauce
For the stew
Preparation
Step 1
Make the broth: In a medium Dutch oven, combine the vegetable broth, ginger, mushrooms, onion, chili, and doenjang. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer until you have a lovely aromatic broth as a base for this stew, 45 minutes to 1 hour.
Step 2
Fish out the mushrooms and slice them, then return the slices to the broth.
Step 3
Meanwhile, make the sauce: In a small bowl, mix together ½ cup water, the garlic, gochugaru, gochujang, “fishy” sauce, and wild sesame seeds.
Step 4
Make the stew: Add the sauce, potatoes, and bean sprouts to the broth and simmer until the potatoes are tender, about 30 minutes.
Step 5
Right before serving, add the scallions, perilla leaves, sweet potato vermicelli, and sesame oil.
Recipe notes
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