Tteokbokki. Chewy rice cakes coated in a sweet, spicy sauce with fish cakes. A popular and delicious Korean street vendor snack. Ready in 20 minutes!
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What is Tteokbokki?
Tteokbokki, also spelled as topokki or dukbokki, is a very popular Korean street food featuring chewy rice cakes in a red spicy gochujang sauce with umami tasting fish cakes. You will find this dish served at many Korean restaurants or by street vendors in South Korea often paired with crispy gimmari. In translation, "tteokbokki" means "stir-fried rice cake" in Korean.
Traditional tteokbokki is a delicious comfort food that serves as a perfect snack that you can share with a friend. My version is slightly less spicy than the spicy version, but it's still spicy and not for the faint of heart.
There are also different variations of this Korean food, such as Rose Tteokbokki (creamy milder version - my personal favorite), Jajang Tteokbokki (black bean version), Gukmul Tteokbokki (soupy rice cakes), and Gunjung Tteokbokki (a soy sauce version).
I've made Korean spicy rice cakes so many times in different ways but I can never grow tired of it! Whenever I am watching a Korean drama and I see the characters munching on it, my mouth begins to water and I rush over to my fridge in hopes I have all the ingredients to make it. It truly is pure comfort food!
Ingredients
Please scroll down to the below Recipe card for full measurements
- Korean rice cakes: are made of a combination of rice flour grounded from short-grain rice and they have a bouncy chewy texture. You can easily find these at the Korean market. Make sure to get the cylindrical rice cakes that are about 2-3 inches long as rice cakes can come in various shapes from cylindrical to circular discs to extra long. I recommend buying fresh rice cakes or refrigerated rice cakes. Avoid frozen rice cakes as they easily splinter from my experience because they are hard and dry.
- If you only have frozen ones, soak them in warm water for at least 10 minutes to help them acclimatize and rehydrate.
- Cold water: or substitute with vegetable broth, chicken broth or anchovy broth for a more flavorful stock. Anchovy stock is traditionally used.
- Korean fish cakes: these come in sheets that are about 7 x 4 inches in dimension at the Korean grocery stores. You can find them in the refrigerated section. You can also substitute with fish balls if you can't find the sheets.
- If you're not a fan of fish cakes, substitute with sliced bacon, or hard-boiled egg.
- Dried kelp: this offers a lot of umami flavor to the stock - do not skip!
- Green onions: this gives our stock that oniony sharp flavor and I wouldn't recommend omitting this.
- Sesame seeds: recommended for a nutty flavor or substitute with sesame oil. If you're allergic, omit altogether.
Tteokbokki Sauce
- Gochujang: this is a Korean red pepper paste or red chili paste that is sweet, spicy and smoky. It's made of red chili flakes, fermented soy beans, glutinous rice and salt and commonly used in Korean cuisine. Gochujang is sold in different spice levels so make sure to get the mild kind if you're new to spice. It usually comes in a smaller or larger red plastic rectangular tub at the Korean grocer in the sauce aisle.
- Regular soy sauce: or substitute with low sodium soy sauce or light soy sauce or a gluten-free soy sauce of your choice.
- White granulated sugar
- Garlic
- Gochugaru: aka Korean chili flakes made of dried red peppers. These offer a lot of red color and spice to our dish. They can come in a large plastic package or in smaller plastic containers. It's often used in Korean cooking and can be frozen to extend the usage for months! I do this all the time with a new pack.
Note: Korean grocery stores or Asian grocery stores will carry these ingredients.
How to make Tteokbokki
Prepare Rice Cakes
Soak rice cakes in warm water for 5 minutes to help them rehydrate and adjust them to room temperature. Strain the liquids.
Create Sauce
In a bowl, combine sauce ingredients until well combined and set aside.
Create Broth
In a non-stick pan, add water and dried kelp. Bring to boil.
Add Sauce
Once it reaches a boil, mix in sauce until combined with water. Bring to a boil.
Add Fish Cakes, Rice Cakes & Green Onions
Add fish cakes, rice cakes and green onions. Lower heat to medium heat. Let it simmer for 10 minutes uncovered, until sauce has thickened.
Reduce Sauce & Garnish
Once sauce has thickened, remove off heat. Garnish with sesame seeds. Enjoy!
Storage & Reheating
This dish will last up to 4 days stored in an airtight container in the fridge. To reheat, microwave for 2-3 minutes or reheat on the stovetop in a pan on medium heat until hot.
Expert Tips
- Avoid using frozen rice cakes found in the freezer section at the Asian market. These easily splinter. Use the fresh or refrigerated kind. But if that's all you have, soak them in warm water for 10 minutes or longer until they become less hard.
- Do not skip soaking the rice cakes in water. They need to be acclimatized to warmer temperature to prevent splintering.
- Cut the fish cakes into triangles for easier consumption and more flavor!
- Have your sauce and ingredients all prepared to toss into the pan.
- Use a non-stick pan for easy clean up as the rice cakes can stick to a normal pan.
- Do not overcook the rice cakes as they will become mushy over time. Once they're chewy and fork tender, remove them off heat.
FAQ
No, unfortunately they will turn hard with the cold. They're best consumed immediately.
I would suggest freezing it in a reusable sealed bag or an airtight container and it will last for months or even up to a year!
Other Korean recipes you may like!
- Dakbokkeumtang Korean Chicken Stew
- Jajangmyeon Korean Black Bean Noodles
- Korean Fried Chicken
- Korean Seaweed Chips
📖 Recipe
Quick & Easy Tteokbokki
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups Korean rice cakes
- 2 cups water or vegetable stock for more flavour
- 1 cup Korean fish cake sliced into triangles or strips (or sub with Fish Cake Balls)
- 4 pieces dried kelp
- 2 stalks green onion chopped into 1 inch pieces
- 1 teaspoon Sesame seeds (optional garnish)
Sauce:
- ½ tablespoon gochujang mild type
- 2 tablespoon regular soy sauce
- 3 tablespoon white granulated sugar
- 3 teaspoon garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon gochugaru
Instructions
- Soak rice cakes in warm water for 5 minutes. Strain the liquids.
- In a bowl, combine sauce ingredients until well combined and set aside.
- In a non-stick pan, add water and dried kelp. Bring to boil.
- Once it reaches a boil, mix in sauce until combined with water. Bring to a boil.
- Add fish cakes, rice cakes and green onions. Lower heat to medium flame. Let it simmer for 10 minutes uncovered, until sauce has thickened.
- Once sauce has thickened, remove off heat. Garnish with sesame seeds. Enjoy!
Tasia ~ two sugar bugs
Thanks for sharing all the process shots! It looks so delicious, I'll have to give this one a try!
Nyasha
Lovely recipe! I always love to read other people make ddukbokki because there is always something different to others especially yours. I hope you can have a look and comment mine too here: http://nyamwithny.com/nyam-recipes-ddukbokki/ I always find it good to add sesame oil and sesame seeds.
The combination with bulgogi is so nice but I always find it better to be seperate however but love the post!
Iris
Perfect amount of heat, saltiness and sweetness. This recipe is foolproof!
christieathome
Thank you Iris! I'm so glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for making my recipe!
Kim Lange
Wow! This looks incredible Christie and I love it's vegetarian! Win-Win! Pinning! xo
Never Ending Journeys
These rice cakes look so incredibly delicious! I love all of the different flavors and textures combined to make these - such a treat. Thanks for sharing. 🙂
Sachiko Hagiya
This tteokbokki recipe was delicious!! As, someone who cannot handle spicy, it was a perfect mix of sweet and spicy:) The recipe was very easy to follow and quick to make! Thank you Christie for sharing this recipe with us!
christieathome
Thank you so much for making my recipe Sachiko! I am so glad you liked this mild version of my tteokbokki! Happy Holidays!
Heidi | The Frugal Girls
Your tasty blend of spicy, sweet, and chewy in this dish serves up some real tastebud happiness. YUM!!
Liz
Ah yes, I tone down the heat for my husband too! lol
I have to make my rice cake softer because of my jaw and we don’t put fish cake. But, I’ll add cheese to my husband’s when he has a beer 🙂
I’ll definitely have to try it with the vegetable broth instead of just water—I’m on a high sodium diet so that will by help! I love spicy rice cakes.
christieathome
I hope you enjoy them! Always good with some beer and some cheese over top! YUM!
Julie
That was delicious, okay so I didn’t have fish cakes and the asian grocery store is super far, but I had some sausage and it was a great add, tasted fabulous with your sauce, thanks for sharing ☺️
christieathome
So happy to read this kind comment! I’m glad it worked out with some sausage instead! Thanks for making my recipe!
Toinetté
I'm vegetarian (ish), so I just omit the fishcakes and added some extra spinach instead.It had enough spice to be tasty, but not so much that I was left panting and I'm search of milk.
I added a splash of extra soya sauce and a dash of sesame oil at the end.
Very yummy!! I saved this recipe to use again.
Thank you!!!
Christie Lai
Thanks so much for making my recipe, Toinetté! So happy you enjoyed it with the omissions and substitutions 🙂
MAHFOODHA
Hi.. lovely recipe.. I just wanted to enquire about the nutrition value .. is it per serving or is it for the full quantity?
christieathome
Hi there! Thank you so much! Yes it would be per serving. Hope this helps!
Ruby
Delicious! My hubby and I tried tteokbokki and it was so good but also a little too spicy for us. This recipe is perfect, still has amazing flavor but a more manageable amount of spice. Everyone should try making this, it’s so so good!
christieathome
Hi Ruby! Thanks so much for making my tteokbokki! I'm so happy that you and your husband enjoyed this milder version of Korea's iconic dish. I appreciate your kind review. Have a lovely day!
Anna
For the sauce, "2 tablespoon regular soy sauce or sub with 3 tablespoon light soy sauce", is the light soy sauce here the same as low-sodium soy sauce?
My family is not into spicy things so this recipe it exactly what I'm looking for! Thank you for sharing. 🙂
christieathome
You're welcome! This recipe still has a kick but less spicier than the original Tteokbokki so if you're family really isn't into spicy things, I would add the gochujang to taste as you mix the taste. Light soy sauce is actually saltier than low-sodium soy sauce here in Canada. You may use light but I would add to taste as you combine the sauce.
Emma Cribb
My husband does not like fish. Do you recommend subbing something else for the fish cakes, or is it okay to just leave them out?
christieathome
You can substitute with fried tofu pockets. Most Asian grocers will carry these. Hope this helps!