Korean Potato Soup / 감자탕 (Kam Ja Tang)

 

 

On and off, I have lived in Korea for almost 2 years.  I have to say the food that has challenged (and puzzled) me the most is Kam Ja Tang (감자탕), or Korean potato stew.

 

First of all, although it is called potato stew (Kam Ja Tang), there is hardly any potato in the soup.  The main ingredient is actually pig spine, and if you don't look hard enough you will miss the half dozen slices of potato they give you.  Needless to say I was quite baffled when I first had Kam Ja Tang.  I kept asking my friends where the potato was and nobody could give me a satisfactory answer as to why Kam Ja Tang is Kam Ja Tang but not Pig Spine Stew. (don't let the picture above fool you, you rarely would get 3 big hunks of potato like that)

 

And if you like pig spine, it still takes a lot of work to pick apart the bone and get to the meat using chopsticks.  As you struggle with the inconveniently-shaped bones (it is the spine of pigs afterall), the soup and sauce get onto your face and clothes.  The saddest part is when you get to the meat there is just not a whole of it.  It is definitely not pork chop and not even pork ribs.  So consuming Kam Ja Tang is a very inefficient eating activity.

 

 

Lastly, the soup is of course very spicy.  And it is not normal Korean spicy.  They somehow feel the need to spice up the spiciness by adding a handful of special seasame powder, which makes the soup quite pungent as well.  In the above picture, the red stuff is chili powder and the white stuff is the special sesame powder. It is definitely not for people with sensitive tongue or weak stomach.

 

 

Strangely enough, I have come to like this dish more and more.  The ritual of picking apart the bone and the strong smell no longer bother me.  I have come to like the experience of having a steaming pot of Kam Ja Tang with friends, especially late at night after a milonga ^^.