Tteok-bokki | 떡볶이
Stir-fried Rice Cakes with Gochu-jang Sauce
This signature Korean street food is made by boiling bite-sized rounded rice cakes or thin rice cakes in gochu-jang (red chilipepper paste) sauce with vegetables and fish cakes. Chewy rice cakes with their spicy and sweet sauce are appealing. Recently, franchised tteok-bokki restaurants have become popular.
- 1 lb (500g) ½-inch diameter cylinder shaped rice cake sticks, 3 sheets fish cake (3 oz, 150g), 1½ cups water (12 oz, 360ml)
Gochu-jang sauce
- 3 tablespoons gochu-jang (red chili pepper paste), ½ tablespoon soy sauce, 2 tablespoons sugar, 1 tablespoon corn syrup
- Rinse the soft rice cake sticks and drain. If the rice cake is hard, blanch in boiling water until soft.
- Cut the fish cakes into 1×2-inch (2.5×5-cm) strips. Place the fish cake strips in a sieve and pour the boiling water over them for degreasing.
- In a saucepan, add water, gochu-jang, soy sauce, sugar and corn syrup and mix them together.
- Bring the sauce pan to a medium heat, and cook the rice cakes, stir occasionally with a wooden spoon.
- Add fish cakes, and continue cooking until sauce thickens.
Boil the sauce in a pan, add rice cakes and fish cakes and boil them for more than ten minutes at low heat. It makes the sauce mix well with and be absorbed into the ingredients. Use a rich brew of anchovies and kelp instead of water to make the dish tastier. More gochu-jang or a spicier type can be added if a spicier taste is preferred.
