Tteokbokki – Korean Spicy Rice Cakes

Tteokbokki (pronounced duck-bo-kee). It is one of my favorite Korean dish. This  Tteokbokki recipe is the simplest and easiest Korean spicy rice cake recipe ever. It has spicy, sweet  unique flavor. You can serve this dish as an appetizer or side dish.   There are lots of variations on this dish, but the one thing they have in common are the rice cakes.  Good luck and enjoy 😉

( You can find the ingredients from Korean Mart or Asian Mart)

Ingredients :

• 1 pound tteokbokki  (about 30-35 cylindrical rice cake)
• 2 sheets Eomik (fish cake) cut into bite sizes 
• 1 medium sweet onion (or yellow onion)
• 1 cup chopped green cabbage 
• 2 green onions 
• 4-5 cups water or anchovy stock (you can add more liquid)
• 3 tbsp gochujang (or depending on your spice level)
• 1-3 tbsp gochugaru ( Korean chilli powder)
• 1 tbsp Korean soy sauce (or any)
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tbsp Korean corn syrup (or any)
• 2-3 cloves minced garlic
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp sesame seeds
• salt to taste
• boiled eggs if you like 

Instructions:

1.  Place rice cakes in hot water for about 15-20 minutes.  Try to use a fresh new rice cake. Avoid frozen. (If you can’t find fresh ones, defrost frozen rice cakes)
2. Cut the fish cake, cabbage, and onions into about 2-inch long pieces.  Mince the garlic. 
3. Add the anchovy broth or water to a large nonsticking pan. Turn heat to medium and add Gochujang, Gochugaru, sugar, salt, soy sauce, and sugar,  stir to dissolve everything. 
4. Add the tteokbokki (rice cake) to the gochujang water and lower the heat and simmer for 8-10 minutes until the rice cakes become very soft and the sauce is thickened. Stir often so the rice cakes don’t stick to the bottom of the pan. 
5. Now add the cabbage, sweet onions, garlic and fish cakes (Eomik). Continue to boil, stirring constantly additional 5  more minutes. 
6. Turn heat off and add the sesame seed and oil, and green onions. Stir well and serve immediately. ( If you like to eat with boiled egg now you can add) 

Anchovy broth:

• Anchovy stock is essential in Korean cooking. It is a traditional base for many soups, stews and other dishes.  You can find these ingredients from Asian Market or Korean Market. 
• Soak 8-10 dried anchovies (guts removed) and  1 sheet sea kelp (dashima) in 6-8 cups of water for at least 15-20 minutes. It is especially important for dashima to be presoaked in order to fully extract the flavor. 
• Then bring to boil in a low heat (uncovered) about 10 minutes.  Drain the liquid to remove anchovies and dashima from stock. Now your stock is ready to use 😉

Enjoy 😉