Korean Tteokbokki 떡볶이

Hello weebs! 

I was so excited to get cooking for this blog for the first time. I was even more excited because I have been wanting to try tteokbokki for quite a while. Tteokbokki, stir fried rice cakes, are mentioned in or appear in almost every Korean Drama that I have watched… which is quite a few. In “Let’s Eat” divorced foodie Soo-Kyung loves to eat but can’t go to restaurants that require you to purchase multiple portions or won’t let you take home the left overs (yes apparently that is a thing). In episode 4 Soo-Kyung eats some delicious looking tteokbokki with muscles with a coworker. He can’t help but stare as she devours it with an almost sensual pleasure. I would definitely recommend this show as a foodie myself.

Tteokbokki is a very versatile dish and is readily available at street carts in Korea. I will be using a few of the most popular add-ons for my recipe: boiled eggs, eomuk (fish cakes), and ramyun (Korean ramen). This recipe will serve about 4 people. Let’s get started!

Ingredients

 If you are not lucky enough to live near an Asian or Korean Market I recommend https://yummybazaar.com/ for the specialty ingredients. It may take a while to ship and things go out of stock quickly but you can usually get what you need if you plan ahead.

3-4 cups of stock- for my recipe I made anchovy stock but you can use whatever stock you want or just water. Use vegetable stock to make vegetarian tteokbokki. For anchovy broth I used 6 inches of dried kelp, 8 cleaned/dried anchovies, 1/3 cup onion, 1/3 cup thin sliced Korean radish (adds sweetness), and 4 cups of water

1 lb Rice cakes- I am using frozen because that is what was available at the Korean market nearest to me but you can use fresh or packaged

6 green onions- I am using onions from our family garden

2 tsp. minced garlic

1/3 cup gochujang (Korean red pepper paste)

1-3 tsp. gochugaru (Korean red pepper flakes). If you are cooking Korean foods or making Kimchi this is a must have for your spice cabinet.

1 tsp. honey- you can also use sugar or ssalyeot (rice syrup). Note: after making this recipe I would have left the sweetener out and added 2 Tbsp. ketchup instead. Ketchup?!?! Yes! It adds the needed acidity and sweetness without overdoing it in my opinion. As you know, recipes are best when you adjust them to your tastes!

1 package Eomuk (fish cakes)- again I am using frozen because that is what was available. Leave these out to make it vegetarian

Boiled eggs- add as many as you want. I am using medium boiled eggs.

Ramyun or ramen

Sesame seeds

Note: after taste testing I added 1 Tbsp. sesame oil to balance out the flavor and add depth. Again, it’s your dish make it how you want it!

Now let’s get Cooking! 

Broth: Use any stock you want or just water. For my stock: Remove the heads and guts (black innards) from 7-8 dried anchovies. I am using green onions from my family’s garden. They are a little large to be used in the rest of the dish so I removed the onion from the stalk, quartered it and added it to the broth. Break off about 6 inches of dried Kelp. If it is covered in white salt gently wipe it off. I had some Korean radish left over from a previous recipe so I added about 1/3 cup thinly sliced radish to the stock to add a little sweetness. You can also use daikon radish instead or leave it out. Add the prepared ingredients and 4 cups of water to a pot. Boil covered for about 10-15 minutes. Strain out the solids. Everything in there is edible so be thrifty and think of ways to use it! I sliced up the kelpand radish to use in the Tteokbokki.

While the stock simmers, thinly slice the green onions and mince the garlic. I also peeled the eggs and took the fish cakes out of the package. 

A wide shallow pan like the one I am using works best for Tteokbokki. To it add 3 cups of stock, 2 tsp. minced garlic, 1/3 cup gochujang (pepper paste), 1 tsp. gochugaru (pepper flakes),  and 1 tsp. honey. Note: after making the recipe I would definitely not add the honey. Instead I would add about 2 Tbsp. ketchup for acidity and sweetness. Stir the sauce to mix and add in the rice cakes. Save the remaining cup of stock! You may need to add more depending on the thickness of the sauce. Cook uncovered for about 10 minutes while gently stirring on medium heat. 

Taste for seasoning! Seriously I cannot stress this enough. I will never understand people that simply follow a recipe verbatim. People’s tastes vary so much. After tasting I decided to add about 1 Tbsp. toasted sesame oil to give the flavor more depth. You may want to add more gochugaru (pepper flakes) depending on your spice tolerance. I love spicy foods and added an extra 2 tsp.

Add half of the green onions (save the rest for garnish), sliced kelp, fish cakes, and eggs. Cook for an additional 6-8 minutes while occasionally stirring. 

While the tteokbokki is finishing up, cook the ramyun according to the directions on the package WITHOUT the seasoning. Generally I find boiling most ramen/ramyun for 3 minutes while covered is best. Drain, divide, and plate the ramyun.

Stir the tteokbokki and add some of the reserved stock if the sauce is too thick. Pile all of the tteokbokki, eomuk, and egg goodness on the ramyun. Top with green onion and sesame seeds and enjoy while it’s fresh. 

While I enjoyed this dish I was really disappointed with the frozen rice cakes. There was something missing in the texture. If I were to make it again I would go the extra mile and make fresh ones at home since fresh wasn’t an option in the store. The best part of this dish was the eomuk! The fish cakes coated in the spicy sauce were absolutely delicious! The ramyun on the bottom soaked up all of the extra saucy goodness to make for an excellent finish to the meal. Overall I would give this meal a 7/10 mostly due to the texture of the rice cake. It was good but lacked the wow factor I was hoping for. Would I make tteokbokki again? Yes, but with fresh rice cakes. I hope you enjoy trying this for yourselves. Let me know how it turns out!

Until next week,

KitchenWeeb