One of my favourite banchan or Korean side dishes growing up was Gamja Jorim or Korean Braised Potatoes. I always look forward to these among the many banchan and side dishes are actually still my favourite to this day.
WHAT IS GAMJA JORIM?
These are potatoes cooked down and coated in a sweet and savoury glaze that pairs really well with steamed rice. It’s also delicious enjoyed as is.
JORIM: The term jorim means simmering something in a sauce until the sauce has been absorbed/reduced. Similar to dubu jorim (Korean braised tofu), these potatoes are cooked down in a braising sauce.
The potatoes have that nice chewy bite from the skin but its insides are very soft. I really love dipping these in whatever of the sauce/glaze is left to get more of it on the potatoes.
OTHER KOREAN RECIPES:
- Vegan Kimchi
- Korean Beansprout Salad
- Bibim Guksu (Korean Mixed Noodles)
- Sundubu Jjigae (Korean Soft Tofu Stew)
- Kimchi Noodle Soup with Dumplings
- Kimchi Noodle Stir-Fry
- Jjajangmyeon
- Kimchi Pancakes or Kimchi Jeon
- Pajeon (Korean Scallion Pancakes)
HOW TO MAKE GAMJA JORIM OR KOREAN BRAISED POTATOES
PREPARE YOUR POTATOES
Make sure to thoroughly wash your potatoes and brush off any dirt. If your potatoes are larger than a ping pan ball, I recommend slicing these in half.
I used baby potatoes for this recipe. You can opt to use regular sized potatoes and just slice them into large cubes, if you’d like. Though I really recommend using baby potatoes if you can find them where you live.
THE BRAISING SAUCE
Mix all the ingredients for the sauce and then set aside. I like mine more on the savoury side with a generous amount of soy sauce. You can easily adjust this to your taste.
COOKING THE POTATOES
Place the potatoes on a baking tray and leave to bake for 30-35 minutes at 350F/180C or until the skin of the potatoes are slightly wrinkly and potatoes are almost cooked through.
I personally prefer to bake these so I can just leave them. But another alternative is to pan-fry these on the pan with 1 tbsp oil and leave these to cook and turn slightly browned on each side for 20-25 minutes on medium heat.
BRAISING THE POTATOES
After baking/cooking the potatoes, heat a large pan with a lid over medium high heat. Once hot, add the neutral oil.
Place the potatoes and cook for 3-4 minutes until lightly browned on each side.
Lower the heat to medium and then pour in the braising sauce.
Mix the potatoes and then cover the pan.
Leave to simmer over medium heat for 8-10 minutes or until the potatoes are cooked through. The sauce will also slowly thicken from the sugars.
Once the sauce has thickened, add in the rice syrup or other liquid sweetener, sesame oil, and sesame seeds.
I used Korean rice syrup. It’s very thick and perfect to beautifully glaze food like this.
Turn up the heat to medium high until the sauce and sugars start to bubble and then mix the potatoes to coat in the glaze.
Keep a close eye on the potatoes since they can easily burn from the sugars. Taste the potatoes and feel free to add more liquid sweetener if you’d like.
Serve and enjoy warm or cold. Note that the potatoes will stick and clump together due to the glaze as it cools.
You can refrigerate these potatoes but they’re best enjoyed freshly made.
Korean Braised Potatoes (Gamja Jorim)
Equipment
- Pan with lid
Ingredients
Potatoes
- 500 g baby or marble potatoes
Braising Sauce
- 2-2/12 tbsp soy sauce adjust to taste
- 1 tbsp mirin or sake or other rice wine
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 1/2 cup water
Braising
- 1 tbsp neutral oil
- 2-3 tbsp korean rice syrup or other liquid sweetener such as maple syrup, agave, etc
- 2 tsp sesame oil
- 2 tsp sesame seeds
Instructions
- Thoroughly wash your potatoes and brush off any dirt. If your potatoes are larger than a ping pan ball, I recommend slicing these in half.
- Mix all the ingredients for the sauce and then set aside.
- Place the potatoes on a baking tray and leave to bake at 350F/180C for 30-35 minutes or until the skin of the potatoes are slightly wrinkly and potatoes are almost cooked through.I personally prefer to bake these so I can just leave them. But another alternative is to pan-fry these on the pan with 1 tbsp oil and leave these to cook and turn slightly browned on each side for 20-25 minutes on medium heat.
- After baking/cooking the potatoes, heat a large pan with a lid over medium high heat. Once hot, add the neutral oil. Place the potatoes and cook for 3-4 minutes until lightly browned on each side.
- Lower the heat to medium and then pour in the braising sauce. Mix the potatoes and then cover the pan. Leave to simmer over medium heat for 8-10 minutes or until the potatoes are cooked through. The sauce will also slowly thicken from the sugars.
- Once the sauce has thickened, add in the rice syrup or other liquid sweetener, sesame oil, and sesame seeds.
- Turn up the heat to medium high until the sauce and sugars start to bubble and then mix the potatoes to coat in the glaze. Keep a close eye on the potatoes since they can easily burn from the sugars.
- Taste the potatoes and feel free to add more liquid sweetener if you’d like. Serve and enjoy warm or cold. Note that the potatoes will stick and clump together due to the glaze as it cools.
- You can refrigerate these potatoes but they’re best enjoyed freshly made.
NUTRITIONAL INFO
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This Post Has 3 Comments
just made these a second time, they’re so good! the hardest part is waiting for them to cool off enough that I don’t burn my mouth.❤️
So so happy you enjoy these!! And yes totally agree on the cooling part haha
My husband loves this and we’re making a 2nd batch! Thank you for the awesome recipe! 🥰