Tteokbokki

The Method for Tteokbokki

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1. If the rice cakes are refrigerated or frozen, soak them in warm water for 20 minutes until pliable, then drain.

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2. Bring the stock to a boil in a wide, shallow pan.

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3. Whisk in the gochujang, gochugaru, sugar, soy sauce, garlic and corn syrup until fully dissolved.

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4. Add the rice cakes and fish cakes (if using) and boil steadily, stirring often so nothing sticks to the base.

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5. Cook for 10 to 12 minutes, until the rice cakes are soft and chewy through and the sauce has reduced to a thick, glossy coating.

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6. Add the spring onions and boiled eggs in the last 2 minutes to warm through.

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7. Take off the heat, stir in the sesame oil, scatter with sesame seeds and serve immediately.

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Related guides: Prep, cook and total time · Ingredient substitutions.

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What Can Go Wrong

1. Keep stirring. Rice cakes stick to the pan the moment you stop.
2. Serve straight away — the sauce continues thickening and the cakes harden as they cool.
3. For rosé tteokbokki, stir in 100 ml of double cream at the end. It is not traditional but it is delicious.

If You're Missing Something

• Out of spring onions? A small regular onion, finely sliced, or a few chives stirred in at the end both cover the job.
• An eighth of a teaspoon of garlic powder per clove is the stand-in usually given when you are out of fresh garlic; it will not brown the same way, and it burns easily, so add it with the liquid.

About This Recipe

The sauce thickens on its own as the rice cakes release starch into it, which is why no thickener is needed — but it also means the dish tightens rapidly and must be served immediately. Anchovy and kelp stock provides the savoury backbone that plain water cannot.

To Go With It

A cold lager, or Korean rice punch · Serve with fried mandu or kimbap · Finish with a sweet iced drink

Keeping Tteokbokki

Best fresh. Keeps 1 day; reheat with a splash of stock to loosen, though the cakes will be firmer.

Common Questions

Tteokbokki Nutrition

No nutrition figures are given for this recipe: they cannot be worked out reliably from its ingredient list (some ingredient lines cannot be read). Why some recipes have none.

Vegetarian when made with vegetable stock rather than anchovy and kelp stock and made without the fish cake sheets.

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