The Gamja Project

The Gamja Project

At the cabin, we have unused land that we loan out to neighboring farmers, who give us a couple boxes of whatever they’ve harvested – in this case, potatoes, fresh out of the ground. As a general practice, the bounties are gifted to my mother, but she wasn’t present at the time of delivery, and we were, so we took possession. 2 boxes = 20 kg.

When the potatoes began to sprout, back in May.

Gamja (감자) is a potato, in Korean. Although various sources suggest that several (supposedly as many as 40) varieties are available in Korea, the only one that’s generally available is the “sumi (수미)” variety. Typically about the size of a flattened tennis ball, about 150 g in mass. Thin-skinned, white, starchy. I vaguely recall having seen “hong (홍) (red)” potatoes at a supermarket somewhere, but I’m beginning to think that it was in a dream.

According to the box, potatoes come in 6 sizes: king-king, king-special, special, large, medium, jorim (baby ones, for braising – a dish not yet covered on GMTD).

The most common usage is in stews/soups/hotpots (see for example 14.130 Baeksuk with Extra Chickeny Soup; 12.135 Gamja Sujebi, 10.148 Chicken and Potato Kalguksu, 14.109 Daegu Maeun Tang, 12.230 Daegu Doenjang Jjigae, 13.271 Gochujang Jjigae, 12.207 Dubu Jjim), including the eponymous gamja tang (see for example 10.340 Gamja Tang), as well as braises (see for example 13.240 Galbi Jjim, 10.101 Dak Dori Tang, 11.302 Godeungeo Jorim, 4.187 Braised Byeongeo), sometimes stir-fried (see for example 7.302 Gamja Chae Bokkeum) or pan-fried (see for example 12.094 Gamja Jeon).

Having given away several bags of potatoes to friends and family, I started with about 12 kg.

The task is threefold: 1) prepare the potatoes in simple ways that allow for their natural taste and texture to come through, 2) mix up the applications so as to minimize potato fatigue, and 3) finish off the potatoes while at peak freshness.