Maen Gamja Jorim

This gorgeous recipe for spicy Korean-style braised potatoes largely comes from Aaron and Claire's wonderful YouTube channel, with minor adaptations to make for a quicker weeknight dinner. With slight changes this was an incredibly easy, delicious recipe. It's usually served as a banchan (side dish) at meals in Korea, but it works beautifully as a main over rice. It was an instant hit in my family and medium-hot for us, but if you're not good with spicy food consider dialing back the hotter spices - the flavors won't be the same, but you'll be less at risk of burning up too! 

Maen Gamja Jorim

(3 servings)

Ingredients

2 tablespoons of honey

1 1/2 tablespoons of light soy sauce

1 tablespoon of gochujang

1 tablespoon of gochugaru

1 tablespoon of oyster sauce

1/2 tablespoon of sugar

Black pepper (to taste)

1 tablespoon of vegetable oil

5 cloves of garlic (halved)

3 cups of frozen potato cubes

1 cup of water

5 stalks of green onions (chopped)

1 teaspoon of sesame oil

Roasted sesame seeds (to garnish)

Directions

1) Mix the honey, soy sauce, gochujang, gochugaru, oyster sauce, sugar, and black pepper in a small bowl and set aside. Prepare everything else as well as things will move fast once you start cooking.

2) Heat the vegetable oil in a wok over medium-high heat, add the garlic and cubed potato, and stir fry for 5 minutes.

3) Pour the sauce over the contents of the wok and stir fry for another minute or two until the house is filled with the beautiful smell of the gochujang and gochugaru.

4) Add the water, bring everything to a boil, and simmer until the potato reaches your desired tenderness (usually about 5 minutes with the size of cubes I buy).

5) Turn the heat off, stir in the green onions drizzle the sesame oil over everything, serve over rice with a sprinkle of roasted sesame seeds, and enjoy!