Make Your Own Tteokbokki
Did you know that making one of Korea’s favorite snacks at home is incredibly simple? Tteokbokki can be made as a quick and easy snack or transformed into a bigger plate for a full meal. The dish can be mastered and changed by even the most novice of chefs. Read below for some great recipes that you can create all on your own from the comfort of your own kitchen!
Basic Tteokbokki
If you’re a newbie at cooking but want to try your hand at replicating this snack, this is the level for you. All you need is basic knowledge of how to operate a stove properly and the ability to follow directions. The full recipe was created by Kimchimari and can be found here, but we will summarize down below.
What You’ll Need
1 cup of rice cake
2 tsp gochujang (the spicy element)
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp soy sauce
¾ cup of water
*This is a snack size serving, so double if you’re looking for a full meal.
The entire process should take about 15 minutes max. Add the water, sugar, and gochujang into the pan and bring the mixture to a boil at medium-high heat. Once the concoction is boiling, add the rice cakes into the mix along with the soy sauce and lower the heat to simmer for 8-10 minutes. This version won’t taste quite like the restaurant or street food you’re used to, but it’s a quick and easy recipe to follow for first-timers who aren’t ready to dive into a more complex recipe. I myself started with this recipe, and my advice is to be careful on the sugar and gochujang recipe, or you could end up with rice cakes that aren’t as spicy and taste more sweet!
Advanced Tteokbokki
If you’re looking for a more traditional take on tteokbokki, this is the recipe for you. Rice cake is not the only staple of tteokbokki, even if it is the main ingredient that everyone knows. In this version, you will find all of the additional ingredients that make for a full-fledged tteokbokki recipe. This recipe was created by Korean Bapsang and you can find the full recipe with steps here.
What You’ll Need
1 pound of rice cake
1 sheet of fish cake
4 ounces of green cabbage or yangbaechu
1 - 2 scallions
3 cups of anchovy broth or water (but broth is recommended over water for better flavor)
3 tablespoons of gochujang
1 - 3 teaspoons Korean red chili pepper flakes gochugaru
1 tablespoon of soy sauce
2 tablespoons of sugar (can be parsed down to 1 if looking for less sweetness)
1 tablespoon of corn syrup or 1 more tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon of minced garlic
If you’re feeling adventurous, you can make your own anchovy stock rather than sticking with store-bought via the instructions on the page. Personally, I don’t have the confidence for that, so I stick with store-bought. The total time of prep and cook will take a little longer with this one, with a total time of 45 minutes until completion. Begin with the broth and sauce mix in a pan and bring to a boil, then add in the rice cakes. Continue stirring while adding the fish cake, cabbage, and scallions for a few more minutes. Be sure to add more broth or adjust the seasoning as necessary!
Bonus: Rabokki!
Who doesn’t love some ramen? It’s common to add additional ingredients into your tteokbokki, and one of the more common additions is ramen noodles. Make a giant pot of delicious tteokbokki featuring ramen, dumplings, spring rolls, and eggs! This recipe was created by My Korean Kitchen and can be found as step-by-step instructions here.
What You’ll Need
1 instant ramen noodle pack
Korean rice cakes 16 pieces (180g/6.3 ounces), separated
2 sheets of Korean fish cakes, rinsed under hot running water for 1 min, chopped into small rectangular pieces
cabbage leaves (80g/2.8 ounces), chopped into small pieces
1/2 small onion (60g/2.1 ounces), thinly sliced
4 deep fried seaweed spring rolls (100g/3.5 ounces) (you can find them at an Asian food market)
2 instant Korean dumplings (45g/1.6 ounces)
2 hard boiled eggs, cut into halves
3 cups of anchovy broth
4 Tbsp of gochujang
1 and 1/2 Tbsp of raw sugar
1 tsp of minced garlic
1 tsp of gochugaru
1 stalk of green onion, thinly chopped
some roasted sesame seeds
As with the previous recipes, this one simply builds on the one before it. Prepare the broth and sauce, combining them in a pan and bringing them to a boil. Slowly add in the rice cakes and let them simmer for a bit before adding the rest of the ingredients, adding spices and broth as necessary for flavor. Remember that instant ramen goes in last since it cooks the quickest! All the other ingredients should be pre-prepared and good to go in at the final moment. Once it’s all together, you’re ready to sit back and enjoy your monster tteokbokki!