Pork Bone Soup a la Maangchi

Maangchi - I've spent hours analyzing her blog, her korean dishes, her videos,  her Gamjatang - Pork Bone Soup hits a craving cord.  Struck was I in wanting to try her recipe.  Struck was I, who lived no where near a korean grocery.  Struck was I who waited so long to be able to make her recipe.  Struck was I who one time went into H-Mart (korean grocery) and found they ran out of pork bones!!  Sadden and depleted, I waited and waited for another few weeks.  Until finally, upon another trip to H-Mart, they had full stock of pork bones! I strucked gold!! The excitement I felt running around the grocery, piling our basket full of ingredients needed to make Gamjatang!. Sesame leaves! Sprouts! Perilla powder! Oh the fun I was going to have the next day making this!

I remember this day clearly.  It was a Friday night.  A night where I am usually exhausted from a full week's of work and commuting, I was exhilarated! Just before we left to go out for dinner, I soaked those pork bones in water, letting time extracted the unwanted, irony blood. 
After we came back from dinner, I  rolled up my sleeves, cleaned all ingredients  and followed Maangchi's instructions step by step.
http://www.maangchi.com/recipe/gamjatang

Now imagine my excitement throughout this making of Gamjatang to realize in the end, when my Mr. tried it, I made it too spicy!!!  It still tasted like Pork Bone Soup mind you but apparently it was too spicy to really enjoy the flavour of the soup! Let's clarify this point, amongst our friends, ppl we know, we can tolerate alot of spice as compared to them, so when I say this soup was too spicy... it was too spicy!  But we ate it regardless! 

After analyzing what I must have done differently than Maangchi, I realized several things.  I brought the wrong soybean paste, (i brought the seasoned soybean paste instead of the regular, straight up soybean paste) add more red pepper power than asked for, add extra dried chili in stock.  I've learnt my lesson.  Never under estimate Maangchi.  :)
The following are my photos as I attempted the Gamjatang.

Vegetables - washed and cut up

Prep for stock base

Ingredients needed to make paste

Paste and Maangchi :)

Stock simmering

Pasted added to stock

Vegetables added to stock

Final dish ! (spicy!)