Gamja Jorim
Small potatoes braised in a sweet and salty soy glaze until tender and shiny, a Korean side dish.
Photograph credit: Gamja jorim Korean by P1898 · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Does a side dish of braised potatoes count as a main? In Korea, it often does, with a bowl of rice and a few other small plates. Gamja jorim is potatoes simmered in soy sauce and sugar until the liquid reduces to a sticky glaze.
Cut the potatoes into 3 cm chunks, or use baby potatoes whole. Rinse them to wash off the starch, which would cloud the glaze. Fry them briefly in oil first, until the outsides turn translucent. Fry before braising. The oil seals the surface and stops the potatoes turning to mush in the sauce.
The braising liquid is soy sauce, sugar, a little water and a few drops of sesame oil. Simmer gently, with the lid off after the first few minutes, until the liquid is almost gone.
Stir often at the end. The glaze thickens and can catch quickly. Finish with sesame seeds. A little extra water goes in if the potatoes are not yet tender when the glaze is thick.
Gamja Jorim: Step by Step
Tap a step to highlight it, or turn on Cook Mode for large type and step-by-step focus.
-
Rinse the potato chunks and dry them. Fry in the oil in a wide pan for 4 minutes until the edges turn translucent.
-
Add the soy sauce, sugar and water and bring to the boil.
-
Lower the heat, partly cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Uncover and cook for 4 minutes, stirring often, until the glaze is thick.
-
Stir in the sesame oil and sprinkle with the sesame seeds and spring onions.
Something wrong or unclear in this recipe? Report a problem with this recipe.
Tips That Matter
- Rinse the potatoes to remove surface starch.
- Fry them briefly before braising.
- Stir often at the end so the glaze does not burn.
- Taste the glaze and add a pinch of sugar if it is too salty.
Swaps and Variations
- Out of spring onions? A small regular onion, finely sliced, or a few chives stirred in at the end both cover the job.
Pairs Well With
Steamed rice · Kimchi · Fried egg · Seaweed
Keeping and Reheating
Keeps in the fridge for 4 days. Good cold or reheated.
Nutrition per Serving
Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list with USDA FoodData Central figures (SR Legacy). A calculation, not a laboratory analysis: brands, cuts and how you measure change the real numbers. How the figures are worked out.
Your notes on this recipe
Cooked this? Keep a note for next time
Compiled by Turab
Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked. Found a mistake? Tell us.
First published ; last changed .
You Might Also Like
More Korean cooking and dinner ideas from Weekly Delight.
Di San Xian
Potato, aubergine and green pepper each fried separately then brought together in a garlicky sauce. Dongbei, and the…
Hot and Sour Potato Slivers
Potato cut into matchsticks, rinsed of starch and fried for ninety seconds so it stays crunchy. Sour, hot, and…
Oi Muchim
Korean cucumber salad: sliced, salted, squeezed and tossed with gochugaru, garlic and sesame — sharp, hot and…
Sigeumchi Namul
Spinach blanched for a minute, squeezed dry and tossed with sesame oil, garlic, soy sauce and toasted sesame seeds.
Bratkartoffeln
German fried potatoes: boiled potatoes sliced and fried with onion and bacon until crisp and golden.
Potato Kugel
Grated potato and onion mixed with egg and oil and baked in a hot tin until the top is crisp and the middle is soft.