Retro Learns Korean: Simple 10 minute 떡볶이(Tteokbokki) Recipe

Nostalgia for many Koreans, a great treat for those having a stressful weak at work or school. Doubling as both a street food and a simple meal that people can cook at home. This dish is very far from being considered healthy and is probably best eaten once a month or so.

I have been cooking with this recipe for a few years, occassionally making a few tweaks. I will include the base recipe and some added ingredients you may want to add depending on your tastes. The ingredients listed are for 2 portions.

Generally for myself I make 1 portion by halving all the ingredients except water which will usually be between 200-300ml. Most of the ingredients may need to be purchased from a specialty korean or asian store. Some may also be available via Amazon which I will leave links on the ingredients.

Ingredients

Ingredients are listed in metric values, I am unsure of the conversions to US measurements.

Water - 400ml

Rice cake (떡) - 250g

Fish cake (어묵) - 2 sheets

Sugar - 2 Tablespoons

Red pepper powder (고춧가루) - 2 Tablespoons

Red pepper paste (고추장)- 1 or 2 Tablespooons (this is the source of the spice)

Soy sauce - 2 Tablespoons

Spring Onion - 30g (usually 2 or 3 depending on size)

Usually I use 2 types of onions, a larger spring onion called a welsh onion here in the UK that has a larger bulb which is better for adding first and a spring onion at the end which will be covered in the method.

Rice cake, fish cake and red pepper powder can all be stored in the freezer to avoid them going stale. I tend to wrap up the rice cakes in cling film in 125g portions so I can make 1 portion. Generally depending on the quality this can cause them to crack, so if it's possible to buy fresh locally that would be a better option than buying in bulk.

Method

Step 1:

Ready all the ingredients. Cut the spring onion and the fish cake. The fish cake can be cut into squares or strips. Add water and rice cakes to a small pan, so that the rice cakes are covered by the water and heat until coming to a boil.

Step 2:

When the rice cakes start to boil, add the soy sauce, pepper powder, pepper paste and sugar. Give it a quick stir and wait for it to boil again. Once it starts to boil add the fish cake and 1 spring onion.

Step 3:

Once the ingredients are all added, the trick is to continue to stir it as it simmers. The necessary cooking time should only be around 5 minutes or some, until you notice it starts to reduce and become sticky but not too thick. If you keep stirring you will notice the consistency changing.

Step 4:

Add the remaining spring onion to the dish and serve. You can eat it directly from the pan or you can serve it in a bowl, one is obviously more convenient as you only need to wash the pan.

Additional Ingredients

Ingredient 1: Hard-boiled egg

One of my favourite experiences of Korea was eating food, I was really surprised one time, when we went to a small sit in street food vendor, that they sold boiled eggs. Now it's not surprising that they sell boiled eggs but when you order them they place them in a bowl and cover them with the same sauce that they use to make the tteokbokki.

Koreans already know they are a great accompliment and make the meal somewhat more healthy with the addition of a protein source. If you wish to add boiled eggs, you can start cooking them before you make the tteokbokki and they should be ready to add in step 4, remove the shell first obviously. I recommend 1 or 2 eggs per person, although it tends to use up a lot of the sauce with 2.

Ingredient 2: Sesame seeds

A lot of asian cuisine will add sesame seeds to dishes to give them more flavour, the same here. Sesame seeds are great because they have good fats and a good amount of protein. The trick is to fry them before adding them, which brings out all the flavour. Be careful not to burn them as they can be sensitive. These can be added in step 4.

Ingredient 3: Dumplings (만두)

Although not directly added to the dish, these are a great accompliment and take a similar amount of time to cook, meaning they will be ready to eat along side. I would recommend 2 or 3 dumplings per person. The idea is to dip the dumplings into the sauce, these help create a full meal as opposed to a simple snack or lunch.

The vegetables used in dumplings tend to blend well with the flavour and the spice of the sauce, and the sauce softens up the crispy outer layer of the dumpling.

Ingredient 4: Mozzarella

I first saw this in a chain in Korea, honestly pretty much anything goes with the sauce, including cheese. Although this one is not the healthiest addition it does taste great. When added in step 4 it melts from the residual heat, you can sprinkle it or just let it melt into a ball. It adds a little bit of sour flavour to the spice.

Closing

Thank you for reading. If you tried the recipe let me know how it went. I am planning on posting a few more recipes that I love. If there are any dishes that you really love from Korea, share them down below.

Retro Learns Korean

Simple 10 minute 떡볶이(Tteokbokki) Recipe