Korean Tteokbokki with Rice Cakes
Rice cakes stick and stay hard if they go into the sauce dry. They must soak in lukewarm water for 20 minutes first if frozen or stored, then go into the sauce while it boils. And the sauce thickens on its own from the rice starch — no added cornflour needed.
- Prep
- 22 min
- Cook
- 15 min
- Total
- 37 min
- Calories
- 390
Tteokbokki is the most famous street food in Korea, sold from carts on every corner. Chewy cylinders of rice cake in a sweet, hot red sauce. Cheap, fast, and done in 20 minutes.
Method
-
1
Soak the rice cakes
If the cakes are frozen or stored, soak them in lukewarm water for 20 minutes until softened. If fresh, just separate the cylinders.
⏱ 20 min -
2
The broth
Bring the water or stock to the boil in a wide pan with the onion.
⏱ 5 min -
3
The sauce
Mix the gochujang, chilli flakes, sugar, soy and garlic, and dissolve them into the boiling broth.
⏱ 3 min -
4
Cook
Add the drained rice cakes and stir regularly for 10 minutes. The sauce thickens on its own from the rice starch that leaches into it.
⏱ 11 min -
5
The additions
Add the fish cake, boiled eggs and spring onions in the last 3 minutes.
⏱ 4 min -
6
Serve
Turn off the heat and add the sesame oil, then scatter the sesame seeds. Eaten hot — it thickens quickly as it cools.
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Tips that actually matter
- Soak frozen cakes before cooking, or they stay hard inside.
- Do not add cornflour to the sauce — the rice starch itself thickens it.
- Stir regularly so the cakes do not stick to the base.
- Eat it at once. Once cooled the sauce thickens hard and the cakes toughen.
People also ask
Where do I get rice cakes?
Asian grocers, sold fresh or frozen. The frozen ones keep for months and work fine after a 20-minute soak.
Is it very spicy?
The street version genuinely is. Reduce the gochujang to two tablespoons, leave out the Korean chilli flakes, and add more sugar — that is the version suited to children.
Can I do it without gochujang?
The whole dish is built on it. A rough substitute: chilli paste plus a spoonful of honey and a spoonful of soy, but the deep fermented flavour will be missing.
Cook mode
Korean Tteokbokki with Rice Cakes
-
1
Soak the rice cakes
If the cakes are frozen or stored, soak them in lukewarm water for 20 minutes until softened. If fresh, just separate the cylinders.
-
2
The broth
Bring the water or stock to the boil in a wide pan with the onion.
-
3
The sauce
Mix the gochujang, chilli flakes, sugar, soy and garlic, and dissolve them into the boiling broth.
-
4
Cook
Add the drained rice cakes and stir regularly for 10 minutes. The sauce thickens on its own from the rice starch that leaches into it.
-
5
The additions
Add the fish cake, boiled eggs and spring onions in the last 3 minutes.
-
6
Serve
Turn off the heat and add the sesame oil, then scatter the sesame seeds. Eaten hot — it thickens quickly as it cools.
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