TTEOKBOKKI
Korean rice cakes
In this blog post, we would like to introduce you to one of our absolute favourite foods: TTEOKBOKKI. Now, you may have never heard of this dish, let alone tried it before. But that's what we are here for, right?
Tteokbokki, korean fried rice cakes are served either in a classic spicy sauce with gochujang (Korean seasoning paste) or in a dark, savory sauce. This post contains 2 recipes at the end, one for the quick and easy version with gochujang sauce and a more complex recipe for our own hearty Tteokbokki sauce. So, you can decide for yourself which recipe you would like to try. In the following, I will briefly explain the preparation and the different ingredients you need for our savory Tteokbokki sauce.
Step 1: don't be scared! For the sauce, you will need some ingredients that you might not have lying around at home. That's why we've linked the ingredients so you can see what they are and what you should look for at your local Asian supermarket. The links will mostly take you to Amazon. However, I’d like to say that we did this for illustration purposes to show you what the products look like. We certainly don’t want you buying all this stuff off of Amazon, seriously please don’t. We’d love for you to see this links as a guide to understand which products we are using in this recipe and so that you know what you’re looking for when you’re visiting your local Asian supermarket.
So, for the sauce you need:
garlic
fresh rosemary
fresh thyme
bay leaves
fresh or dried chilli (optional)
black peppercorns
juniper berries and
These ingredients act as flavouring agents in the sauce. They are sautéed in a pot with a little sesame oil to release all their flavour.
Next, add to the pot:
brown sugar
Gochujang (Korean seasoning paste)
Soy sauce and
The whole thing is then deglazed with
red cooking wine and
vegetable/algae/mushroom stock (your choice).
Now let the sauce simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally until the alcohol in the wine has evaporated. How can you tell when the alcohol has completely evaporated? Just smell the sauce, when the steam no longer smells sour and like wine/alcohol it’s ready. Now add the spices to the sauce for a special touch:
white pepper
garlic powder
smoked paprika powder
gochugaru (Korean chilli flakes, optional)
Allow the sauce to boil down again for 30-45 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat, put a lid on it and let it cool down completely. If you prefer, you can leave the sauce to infuse overnight in the refrigerator, which will intensify the flavour.
Now all you have to do is wash your rice cakes, soak them and then fry them in a pan with some sesame oil. Then deglaze with your delicious sauce and simmer for 10-15 minutes. Add the vegetables* (spring onion, peppers, shiitake mushrooms) and cook for another 2 minutes. Serve on a large plate, garnish with toasted sesame seeds and spring onion and enjoy!
Trust us, once you've tasted this treat, you won't want to stop...like ever! Therefore, we won't keep you in suspense any longer. Below you'll find the 'beginner's recipe' for Tteokbokki with a Gochujang sauce, which you can easily make at home. And for the more ambitious cooks, we have also uploaded our go-to recipe for our favourite Tteokbokki sauce. It's a bit more time consuming and you need quite a lot of ingredients but the end result is definitely worth it. Feel free to let us know which recipe you tried and as always:
Enjoy!
*TIP: After straining the sauce, you can rinse and chop the shiitake mushrooms from the sauce and add them to your Tteokbokki. This adds an additional umami flavour to the dish.
TTEOKBOKKI with Gochujang Sauce
Zutaten
- 2 tbsp gochujang (Korean seasoning paste)
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 300ml vegetable/algae/mushroom stock (your choice)
- ½ -1TL starch to thicken the sauce
- 300g (cylindrical) rice cakes
- 1 tsp (sesame) oil
- 3 spring onions
- 1 (red) pepper
- roasted sesame seeds
Zubereitung
- Take the rice cakes out of the packaging and put them in a colander. Rinse well. Then place in a bowl of warm water and leave to soak for 10 minutes.
- Mix the ingredients for the sauce together in a bowl. Set aside.
- In a deep pan, heat the sesame oil. Drain the rice cakes and add to the pan. Fry the rice cakes for 2-3 Minutes, tossing occasionally.
- Pour the prepared sauce over the rice cakes. Cook for 10-15 minutes over medium heat. Stir occasionally.
- While the rice cakes are cooking, roughly chop the spring onions and the pepper.
- Add the chopped vegetables to the rice cakes and simmer for another 2 minutes. Stir occasionally.
- Place the finished rice cakes on a plate, garnish with toasted sesame seeds and spring onion and enjoy.
TTEOKBOKKI with our dark, savoury sauce
Zutaten
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 1 sprig rosemary
- 1 sprig thyme
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 chilli (optional)
- 10 black peppercorns
- 5 juniper berries
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tsp white miso paste
- 1 tbsp gochujang (Korean seasoning paste)
- 2 tbsp black bean paste
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
- 350ml red cooking wine
- 350 ml vegetable/algae/mushroom stock (your choice)
- 5 dried shiitake mushrooms
- ½ tsp white pepper
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp smoked paprika powder
- 1 tsp gochugaru (Korean chilli flakes)
- 100ml vegetable/algae/mushroom stock (your choice)
- 300g (cylindrical) Korean rice cakes
- 1 tbsp (sesame) oil
- 3 spring onion
- 1 onion
- 1 (red) pepper
- 5 shiitaake mushrooms (from the sauce)
- Roasted sesame seeds
Zubereitung
- Heat the sesame oil in a pot. Add the garlic (peeled and crushed), rosemary, thyme, bay leaves, chilli, black peppercorns and juniper berries to the pot and sauté for 1-2 minutes, over medium-high heat.
- Next, add the brown sugar to the pot and stir. Add the miso paste, gochujang, black bean paste and both soy sauces to the pot.
- Deglaze with the cooking wine and vegetable stock.
- Add the shiitaake mushrooms and the spices to the sauce, stir everything well again and then let it boil down for 30-45 minutes over medium heat.
- Remove the pot from the heat, put a lid on it and let it cool down completely. (If you prefer, you can leave the sauce to infuse overnight in the fridge, which will intensify the flavour).
- Strain the sauce through a sieve. Fish out the shiitake mushrooms, rinse and put aside. Either use the sauce immediately or put it in an airtight screw-top jar. The sauce is enough for two batches of tteokbokki and can be stored in the fridge for up to 1 week.
- Now all you have to do is wash your rice cakes, soak them in warm water for 10 minutes and then fry them in a pan with sesame oil for 2-3 minutes.
- Deglaze the rice cakes with the dark sauce and stock and simmer for 10-15 minutes. Meanwhile roughly chop the vegetables (the set aside shiitake mushrooms, spring onion, onion and pepper). Add the vegetables and cook for another 2 minutes. Keep stirring.
- Serve your finished tteokbokki on a large plate, garnish with toasted sesame seeds and spring onion and enjoy!
Hi, we’re Marie and Michael, two foodies living and studying in Vienna!
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