Tteokbokki is a very popular street food from Korea. If I was to describe it, I would say it’s colorful, hot, chewy, spicy, soft, savory and wiggly fun! This dish is more enjoyable when shared with others and I highly recommend eating straight from the pan! All the gooey and ooey yummies will be waiting for you while your chopstick skills will be put to test. Watch out for sauce droppings too, because they won’t come off easily from your clothes! My recollection of eating tteokbokki was when I was a little girl living in Korea and when I visited in highschool. They were all so delicious and til this day I can’t figure out and amazed by the fact that every tteokbokki tried, never tasted the same!! Family Secret recipes definitely rules the streets of Korea…
What is the base for the sauce?
My recipe calls for a simple base–dry kelp or dashima. Yup, that’s all you need! It gives it a subtle flavor without over powering the sauce. If you don’t want to have a fishy flavor in your sauce, you can actually omit the fish cake.
What kind of rice cake is RECOMMENDED?
This is personal preference, but i like to use fresh rice cake from the Korean Rice Cake store. They are white colored, skinny, and cylindrical shape, almost resembling like string cheese? Anyhow, these are typically very soft and cook fast. The other kind of rice cake you will find is from a Korean market, prepackaged. The package says it’s made from rice but there’s no telling. The texture seems more chewier and it takes a bit longer to cook and absorb seasoning.
How can you adjust the spicy hot level?
Depending on your taste buds, you can adjust the spicy level by going up or down. Meaning you can add more or less gochujang. Same goes for the hot red pepper flakes. Everyone’s tolerance is different so it’s really up to you! Personally I can’t take the heat very well! Thanks to my sensitive stomach, ha!
what can i pair with Tteokbokki?
Yes, there are many yummies you can pair with Tteokbokki:
- boiled eggs
- fried mandoo
- sweet potato glass noodles, dangmyun
- fried calamari
- hot dog
- cheese
- ramen
Now let’s get started! I am getting hungry just thinking about Tteokbokki!!!
did you enjoy this spicy tteokbokki ramyun?
Be sure to check out my other delicious recipes:
Spicy Tteokbokki Ramyun
Ingredients
- 6 cup water
- 1 sheet dry kelp 5"x5"
- 0.8 lbs rice cake fresh, long cylinder shape
- ½ medium onion sliced
- 1 tbsp garlic minced
- 4 tbsp scallions chopped
- 3 sheets flat fish cake (4"x6") cut into rectangles
- 3 tbsp gochujang (Korean spicy paste)
- ½ tbsp gochujaru (Korean hot pepper flakes) coarse
- 1 tsp sea salt optional
- 3 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp mirin
- 1 pinch black pepper
- 2½ tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
Instructions
- Soak rice cake in cold water, if it is frozen or have been refrigerated. If fresh and soft, do not need to soak.
- Bring water and kelp to boil in a sauce pan. Boil on high heat for 10min. Discard the kelp.
- Add the following into the sauce pan: gochujang, hot pepper flakes, garlic, sugar, mirin and black pepper. Stir and mix well until well dissolved.
- Add the rice cake and onions. Simmer in medium heat for 10 min, stirring occasionally.
- Add the fish cakes, soy sauce, and vinegar. (Add salt here:optional) Simmer for 3 min stirring constantly to avoild sticking on the bottom of the pan.
- Add the noodles (optional) and simmer for 2-3min in low heat. Stir the rice cake but not the noodles.
- Turn off fire and drizzle sesame oil, sesame seeds and scallions. Enjoy!!
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