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Korean Braised Potatoes (Gamja Jorim) are a quick, easy and delicious way to make simple potatoes taste amazing! These potatoes are diced and sautéed until golden, then braised in a sweet and savory sauce until beautifully glazed.
Watch the Korean Braised Potatoes Recipe Video Below!
This Korean side dish (banchan) is extremely popular in Korea and one of my wife’s personal favorites! Growing up as a Korean-American in Los Angeles, her grandmother would make Korean Braised Potatoes (Gamja Jorim) for her to go with her lunch or as an after school snack, and she swears by this recipe!
Ingredients for Korean Braised Potatoes
Here are the ingredients you’ll need for this traditional Korean side dish!
- 1 lb potato washed and peeled – For this recipe, I recommend using waxier potatoes with less starch. Baby Yellow or Yukon Gold potatoes work well. Using a potato with less starch will allow the potato to hold its shape better during the cooking process.
- I would try to avoid the starchier potatoes like russets for Korean Braised Potatoes.
- 1 tbsp neutral oil – My favorite neutral oil is avocado oil, but you can also use canola or vegetable oil! I don’t use olive oil due to the strong flavor profile here.
- 1/4 cup light soy sauce
- 2 tbsp mirin – If you don’t have Mirin readily available, you can substitute for equal parts sugar or corn syrup.
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2/3 cup water
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tbsp sesame seeds
Korean Braised Potatoes: Recipe Instructions
Dice Your Potatoes
Begin by washing and peeling your potatoes. For the next step, you’ll want to cut your potatoes into 2-3″ pieces. My potatoes were small enough so that quartering them created these sections below. Cut them into equal size pieces (as best you can) so that the potatoes cook evenly.
Sauté the Potatoes
Once the potatoes are into equal size pieces, heat 1 tbsp of neutral oil over medium high heat and add your potatoes. Sauté them for 4-5 minutes or they begin to take on a golden brown color.
After the potatoes have been sautéing for 4-5 minutes, add your mixture of soy sauce, mirin, sugar, water and garlic. Mix the braising liquid in with the potatoes and continue cooking for another 5-6 minutes. You should begin to see the liquid reduce and thicken, and the potatoes should begin to turn soft and tender. You’ll know the potatoes are done when they are fork tender, but don’t break apart!
Once they have become tender and the sauce has thoroughly coated each piece of potato, finish with a drizzle of sesame oil and garnish with sesame seeds. Your Korean Braised Potatoes (Gamja Jorim) are done!
Recipe Tips
BRAISING
Korean Braised Potatoes (Gamja Jorim) uses a technique called braising, which essentially means to cook the ingredients slowly in liquid. Due to the ratio of the sauce to potatoes and cooking over medium high heat, the sauce should thicken up to a glaze just as the potatoes are tender and ready to eat! If you find that there is not enough liquid or it’s reducing too quickly, add an additional 1/2 cup of water and continue cooking until the potatoes are to your desired tenderness.
I love serving Korean Braised Potatoes (Gamja Jorim) with other Korean side dishes (banchan) along with various meats, vegetables, and freshly steamed rice! If you like Korean food, check out my other Korean recipes on the blog!
If you tried this Korean Braised Potatoes (Gamja Jorim) or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below!
Korean Braised Potatoes
Ingredients
- 1 lb potato, washed and peeled
- 1 tbsp neutral oil
- 1/4 cup light soy sauce
- 2 tbsp mirin
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2/3 cup water
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tbsp sesame seeds
Instructions
- Wash and peel the potatoes, then cut them into 1" pieces.
- In a bowl, mix soy sauce, mirin, garlic, sugar, water until combined.
- In a nonstick pan, heat 1 tbsp of neutral oil over medium high heat. Saute potatoes for 4-5 minutes until they begin to turn golden.
- Add sauce, simmer 5-6 minutes or until the potatoes are fork tender but not mushy. If the sauce is too watery, turn the heat to high and let the sauce continue to reduce until caramelized.
- Finish with sesame oil and sesame seeds and enjoy!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Hey Chris, thanks so much for this amazing recipe! How long can these be kept for, if they’re not eaten immediately? I live alone and like to prep food in advance, would love to be able to make & use these a few days ahead if possible.
Hi Meike – thank you so much! These should last for 3-4 days in the fridge!
So easy and good!! 😊 Thanks
Thank you for the kind review! I’m glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
Made these tonight. Insanely good and easy. Goes with everything. Thanks for the recipe!
This is my go-to snack when we have spare potatoes! Super easy to make