How to Make Tteokbokki

Tteokbokki is about reducing the sauce

Tteokbokki is made by simmering rice cakes in a gochujang-based sauce until it reduces and clings thickly to their surface. The red version from snack stalls is the best known, but there is also an older soy-sauce stir-fried royal court version, a soupy version with plenty of broth, and one made with black bean sauce, among many others. At home, three things matter most: checking the condition of the rice cakes, dissolving and boiling the sauce first, and adjusting the heat as you watch the sauce reduce. Get these right and you can come quite close to the snack-stall taste.

Ingredients (example for two)

These are typical ranges. Gochujang and chili flakes vary in heat and saltiness between brands, so it is safer to start with less and add more after tasting. Replacing some of the sugar with corn syrup or rice syrup gives a glossier finish.

• 300 to 400 g tteokbokki rice cakes (rice-flour or wheat-flour)
• 2 sheets of fish cake, 1 green onion, a handful of cabbage (optional), 2 boiled eggs (optional)
• 2 tbsp gochujang, 1 tbsp chili flakes, 1 tbsp sugar, 1 tbsp soy sauce, half a tbsp minced garlic
• 400 to 500 ml water or anchovy and kelp stock
• 1 tbsp corn syrup or rice syrup (optional), a few sesame seeds

Method

Dissolving the sauce in the liquid and bringing it to a boil before adding the rice cakes helps the flavor spread evenly. Once the rice cakes go in they stick easily, so stir often.

• Soak hardened rice cakes in lukewarm water for 10 to 20 minutes to soften, and separate any that are stuck together
• Cut the fish cake into bite-size pieces, slice the green onion diagonally and cut the cabbage into large pieces
• Pour stock into a pot, stir in the gochujang, chili flakes, sugar, soy sauce and garlic, and bring to a boil
• Add the rice cakes and cabbage and simmer over medium heat, stirring
• When the rice cakes are soft and the sauce has thickened, add the fish cake, green onion and eggs and reduce a few minutes more
• Turn off the heat at the consistency you like and sprinkle with sesame seeds

When rice cakes stay hard or the sauce scorches

The most common reason for a hard center is adding rice cakes straight from the fridge or freezer. The outside goes soft while the inside stays firm, so soak them in water first or blanch them briefly in boiling water for even cooking. If instead they turn mushy, they cooked too long, or wheat rice cakes were simmered as long as rice ones. Wheat rice cakes cook fast, so add them later. Scorching happens when gochujang and sugar sink and stick to the bottom, so lower the heat as the sauce reduces and stir often. If it reduces too quickly, add water a little at a time.

Adjusting flavor and common mistakes

If it is too spicy, a little more sugar or syrup and extra cabbage or fish cake will soften the heat. If it tastes flat, adding more and more gochujang tends to make it pasty, so topping up with soy sauce gives a cleaner result. If the sauce looks thin and slides off the rice cakes, it has not reduced enough yet; keep simmering. Stock makes the same sauce taste far deeper, and if you have no time to make it, adding the fish cake from the start lends flavor to the liquid. Tteokbokki is best right after cooking; the rice cakes firm up as they cool.

Variations

The same base changes easily. Add instant noodles for rabokki, or keep plenty of broth and skip the reduction for soupy tteokbokki. Stir-frying the rice cakes with beef and vegetables in soy sauce, sugar and sesame oil instead of gochujang gives a mild soy version that children enjoy. Some melt cheese on top at the end, or stir in milk or cream for a creamy version. Leftover sauce is good fried with rice and crumbled seaweed. Refrigerate leftovers and reheat over low heat with a splash of water.

Cooking it in Japan or abroad

Korean grocery stores sell tteokbokki rice cakes and gochujang. If you cannot find the rice cakes, glutinous rice cakes melt and fall apart, so they are not a good substitute; cakes made from non-glutinous rice give a closer texture. Any local fish cake works, and stock made from bonito flakes and kelp instead of anchovies is fine.

Food safety and allergies

Rice cakes are chewy and do not break apart easily, so they can be a choking hazard. Cut them small for young children and older adults, and keep an eye on them so they eat slowly and chew well. Hot rice cakes hold heat inside and can burn the mouth, so let them cool a little. Wheat rice cakes, gochujang and soy sauce often contain wheat, soy sauce contains soy, fish cake often contains fish and wheat, and eggs can also trigger allergies, so check the labels. Do not leave cooked tteokbokki at room temperature for long; refrigerate it once it cools.