If you are a k-drama fan like us than you are no stranger to Korean rice cake or Tteokbokki. If you think you can’t make this at home, this Korean rice cake recipe will prove you wrong!
Tteokbokki translates to stir-fried rice cake and the dish is exactly what it is!
Which type of Korean Rice Cake?
There are several different types of Korean rice cake and although they look different, they almost have the same taste. The only difference is in their shape and texture. For example, you might find the thin oval ones or the cylindrical ones.
Tteokbokki is usually made with the cylindrical ones and you can easily find them at your local Asian grocery store. This is the specific brand that we used in this Korean rice cake recipe.
Korean Rice Cake Sauce
Typically, the main ingredient of the sauce is gochujang paste combined with gochugaru (Korean red pepper). This makes an exciting spicy sauce which a lot of people enjoy! But if you’re not a huge fan of the heat, don’t worry!
Our version of the Korean rice cake sauce combines sugar and honey for an extra bit of sweetness with the gochujang and gochugaru. We also love our garlic, so minced garlic also goes into the sauce. You can always adjust the level of gochugaru to your liking. Make sure to also pick the mild flavor when buying the gochujang paste if you don’t want spicy Korean rice cake.
Additional Ingredients for your Korean Rice Cake
This is probably why we love cooking Korean rice cake so much! You can add lots of additional ingredients ranging from meat to veggies. Our personal favorites are:
- Fish balls / Fish cake
- Sausages
- Boiled Eggs
- Sliced Cabbage (for the crunch)
You can also add fried tofu strips, carrots or even ramen (because there can never be too much carbs, right?)!
Cooking your Korean rice cake
Although Korean rice cake can have a lot of ingredients in it, the steps to making this dish is fairly simple. First, you want to combine the rice cake and 4.5 cups of water on a pot on medium-high heat. Make sure to turn the heat to medium heat once the water starts boiling.
Then, make the sauce by mixing gochujang paste, gochugaru, sugar, honey and garlic cloves in a bowl. Mix until the color is even. The texture will be paste-like. Proceed to making the slurry by mixing cornstarch and water in a bowl.
If you have any additional ingredients that you’d like to include in the Korean rice cake, this is the perfect time to add them. We added the fish balls, cabbage, onion and dashi into the pot with the rice cake (If you are adding boiled eggs, you’ll add them last since it’s cooked already). The dashi gives the dish a slight umami taste that we love but feel free to skip this ingredient if you are not a fan. Your rice cake should also have a softer texture now.
Then, it’s time to add the gochujang sauce into the pot along with the other ingredients. Stir everything together for about 5 minutes until the sauce mixes thoroughly. You want to make sure that the rice cake is completely chewy and no longer hard. If the rice cake is still hard, you can turn up the heat and lower it again once it’s completely cooked.
Next, add the slurry to the pot and stir again for another minute. This will thicken the sauce, which is what we want.
Finally, add the sliced green onions and boiled eggs. Transfer to a bowl and your Korean rice cake is ready to be enjoyed! If you are a fan of cheese, add some mozzarella cheese after transferring the rice cake into a bowl and you’ll thank us 😉
ingredients
- 500 grams/1lb of rice cake sticks
- 4.5 cups of water
- 2 tbsp gochujang paste
- 1 tbsp gochugaru
- 1 tbsp sugar
- ½ tbsp honey
- 4 garlic cloves (minced)
- Fish cake or fish balls (optional)
- ½ onion (sliced)
- 1 tsp Dashi powder (optional)
- ½ cup cabbage (sliced)
- Slurry Mix (1 tbsp cornstarch and 2 tbsp water mixed together)
- 3 green onion stalks (sliced into strips)
- 2-3 Boiled eggs
steps:
- First, cook the rice cake with 4.5 cups of water in a wok or pot on medium high heat.
- While the rice cake are boiling, prepare the sauce by mixing gochujang paste, sugar, honey, garlic and gochugaru in a bowl. Mix thoroughly until everything is combined.
- Next, add the fish balls, dashi, onions, cabbage and gochujang sauce mix into the pot with the rice cake. Stir until the sauce mixes evenly in the water.
- Stir for about 5-7 minutes and then add slurry mix and stir again for another minute.
- Finally, add the sliced green onions and boiled eggs. Transfer the Tteokbokki on a bowl and enjoy!
Korean Rice Cake (Tteokbokki)
Ingredients
- 500 grams Rice cake sticks (1lb)
- 4.5 cups Water
- 2 tbsp gochujang paste
- 1 tbsp gochugaru
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1/2 tbsp honey
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- Fish cake or fish balls optional
- 1/2 onion sliced
- 1 tsp Dashi powder optional
- 1/2 cup cabbage sliced
- Slurry Mix (1 tbsp cornstarch + 2 tbsp water mixed together)
- 3 stalks green onion sliced into thin strips
- 2-3 boiled eggs
Instructions
- First, cook the rice cake with water in a wok or pot on medium high heat.
- While the rice cake are boiling, prepare the sauce by mixing gochujang paste, sugar, honey, garlic and gochugaru in a bowl. Mix thoroughly until everything is combined.Â
- Next, add the fish balls, dashi, onions, cabbage and gochujang sauce mix into the pot with the rice cake. Stir until the sauce mixes evenly in the water.
- Stir for about 5-7 minutes and then add slurry mix and stir again for another minute.
- Finally, add the sliced green onions and boiled eggs. Transfer the Tteokbokki on a bowl and enjoy! Â
