What is tteokbokki ?
Tteokbokki (떡볶이) is a very popular Korean street food dish made of soft rice cakes cooked in a sweet and spicy sauce based on Korean red chili paste, also called gochujang. It’s often found at Korean barbecues accompanied by bulgogi beef
Tteokbokki, also written as ddukbokki or ddeokbokki, literally translates to “stir-fried rice cakes” in Korean. It’s often found with a very liquid sauce, almost like a soup.
But why make it a soup when you can concentrate and caramelize the sauce? You’re starting to know me. What I’m offering here is a pure concentrate of spicy, sweet, and savory flavors. If you can handle the spice, this recipe will make you as addicted as my beef udon.
There are many variations of tteokbokki, especially in terms of the sauce and various toppings. The sauce can range from soft to dry, and toppings can include fish cakes (eomuk), hard-boiled eggs, ramen noodles, dumplings (mandu), vegetables, and even cheese like in Korean hot dogs.
Koreans have limitless imagination when it comes to food. In short, today I’m treating you to this classic of Korean cuisine.
Ingredients to make tteokbokki
They are prepared with a specific type of rice cake called garae-tteok, which are long and cylindrical, cut into pieces 2-3cm long.
There are several types: those made with rice flour which are a bit more elastic in texture, or those made with wheat flour which are denser. Personally, I have a strong preference for rice flour tteok. But to each their own.
Gochujang and gochugaru: very famous Korean chili powder and paste, they pair well with many things. If you want to learn more, here’s my article on the subject.
Light soy sauce: not to be confused with dark soy sauce, it brings a little salty taste that we love. If you want to learn more about the different types of soy sauces, I’ll redirect you to my comprehensive article on the subject
Shaoxing wine: it’s one of the most popular cooking rice wines in China. Widely used in many of my recipes, I recommend buying it! Worst case, replace it with sake or dry sherry.
However, as usual, substitution implies (even slight) loss of flavor fidelity, so proceed at your own risk! For my part, it’s an element I always have in my kitchen and I’m totally addicted to using it. Here’s my complete article on Shaoxing wine
Gochujang can be hard to find, you can buy it here on Amazon
The tteokbokki recipe
Tips for successful tteokbokki
Patience is the mother of caramelization: I repeat it over and over, use your eyes and utensils to make sure the sauce is well caramelized before moving on to the next step. Sometimes, 1 minute makes all the difference.
Use quick-cooking beef cuts for best results
Tteokbokki – Korean spicy rice cakes
Ingredients
Sauce
- 6 tablespoon of Shaoxing wine
- 3 tablespoons of gochujang
- 3 tablespoons powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon by gochugaru
- 1 teaspoon light soy sauce
- 2 cloves minced garlic
Noodles
- 350 g of Korean rice cakes tteok
- 4 stems young onions cut into 1cm segments
- 300 g of sliced beef
Procédé
- Soak the rice cakes in hot water for 10 minutes. Drain and set aside.
- In a bowl, mix the sauce ingredients
- In a wok over high heat, heat a little oil and stir-fry the steak for 5 minutes. Set aside.
- Stir-fry the green onions for 5 minutes. Set aside.
- Lower the heat to medium, pour in the sauce and reduce while stirring. Don’t hesitate to add more oil and lower the heat if it starts to stick/burn.
- Once it has reduced well, add the tteok, meat, and green onions. Mix and continue to reduce if necessary.
