감자조림//Gamja Jorim//Braised Potatoes

What midwesterner doesn't love potatoes?
That was a rhetorical question, because obviously they don't exist. So as a midwestern korean, I can't get enough of this side dish. These braised potatoes are both sweet and savory. They take about 40 minutes to make, but are actually pretty hands-off.

Ingredients

• about 2 1/2 cups cubed potatoes
• 1 1/2 cups of water
• 2 1/2 Tbs soy sauce
• 2 1/2 Tbs brown sugar
• 2 minced garlic cloves
• about 1 tsp sesame oil
• about 1 Tbs sesame seeds

Steps
Step 1: Preparing your potatoes!
If you're using some russet potatoes, start by peeling the potatoes. If using a new or red potato, you can skip the peeling. I used new potatoes so I just went straight to cubing them. Cut into about 1/2 inch pieces.

After chopping up the potatoes, I rinse them off to get rid of excess starch. After that, straight into a pot!

Step 2: Mince up your garlic, and add it, the water, soy sauce and brown sugar. Stir it up!

Step 3: Cooking the potatoes.
Bring the potatoes to a boil on the stove top. The quickest way to do this is on the highest setting. Then bring the setting down to medium. Cook the potatoes covered, on medium, for 20 minutes. Stir every five minutes or so, just to ensure the potatoes don't stick to the pot.

After those 20 minutes, give another good stir. Cook, now uncovered, for another 20 minutes or until most of the liquid has evaporated. The remaining liquid will be thick and syrup-y. It should look something like this:

Step 4: Last additions!
Drizzle the sesame oil over, mix in the sesame seeds, and you're ready to serve! WARNING ABOUT SESAME OIL: feel free to change the amount. I honestly don't even measure it, I just approximated that I used 1 teaspoon.  But always start out with less than you think you need and add more. Sesame oil is really strong, and notorious for tricking cooks who aren't familiar with it, use too much.

맛있게 드세요!