Make Bacon Tteok Gui for the holidays! Soft and chewy tteok wrapped in crunchy and yummy bacon is just perfection on a plate! And topped with my spicy sweet Gochujang sauce, it will be a crowd-pleaser for sure!!
Every fall, I always try to find easy and yummy Korean fusion dishes that people can cook and enjoy with their loved ones. A couple of years ago, I developed my Gochujang Meatballs recipe using frozen meatballs and it was a great hit! Not only for my blog but personally, I have a go-to appetizer to take to parties now that has unique Korean flavors.
Well, this year, I’m sharing another really simple but amazing appetizer that has Korean elements in them – my Bacon Tteok Gui or in plain English – Roasted Bacon Rice Cakes!
What is Bacon Tteok Gui?
Gui 구이 means to roast or grill. So Bacon Tteok Gui 베이컨 떡 구이 simply is Tteok wrapped in Bacon that’s either roasted in the oven or grilled or pan-fried. And yes, this is not a traditional Korean dish but it’s something that has become popular in Korea in recent years. Now..who would have thought? But I just recently heard of it from my sister #3 who told me she used to serve it to her foreign guests when she hosted parties as a diplomat’s wife.
As a kid, I always LOVED having just rice, crispy bacon and kimchi. Sometimes, I may even fry my rice in the extra bacon fat. OMG, it’s soo good but yes, of course, maybe not the most healthy meal.. haha.
So when I heard about Bacon + Tteok? Wow…I knew it would be a winning combination since tteok is basically rice!!
Best Tteok to use
Tteokbokki Tteok 떡뽁이 떡 are the thin long rice cakes that are usually used for making Tteokbokki. And this kind works best for this Bacon Tteok Gui. You can also use the uncut Tteokguk Tteok (rice cakes for soup) but I found it’s a bit too much tteok. You can buy Tteokbokki tteok from Korean grocery stores or online. Search for Tteokbokki or Toppoki rice cakes.
Tteokbokki tteok comes in 3 different states – freshly made, refrigerated or frozen.
1. Fresh Tteokbokki tteok is very soft, chewy, stretchy when it’s freshly made. But after 2 days or so at room temperature, it becomes dry and hard. You will only be able to buy freshly made tteok if you live in an area where there is a Tteokjip 떡집. In the US, I would say only the big cities with a lot of Korean American population will likely have this shop.
2. Refrigerated tteok is the one you will most likely get when you order online. These tteoks are hard and are not good to eat unless you reheat them or cook them. To use for this recipe, you just simply blanch in boiling water until they become soft (10 seconds or so) first to make them soft again and then use them to make Bacon Tteok Gui. I don’t have any particular favorite brand but this one I found is 100% rice which is good. Note, not all tteokbokki tteoks are 100% rice, many have some wheat flour in them. Be sure to check the ingredients when buying.
3. Frozen Tteok is not the best but it can still work. It’s best defrosted first either in the fridge overnight, at room temp for a few hours or in cold water for 30 min or so. You can then blanch them in boiling water until they become soft, drain them and use them.
How to make Bacon Tteok Gui appetizer
Ingredients
- Tteokbokki Tteok (Korean Rice Cake batons for Tteokbokki)
- Bacon (keep it cold until ready to use)
- Sauce
- Gochujang
- Maple Syrup
- Ketchup
- Rice Vinegar (apple cider vinegar also works)
Step by Step Instructions
- Prepare tteok if you are not using freshly made tteok. For frozen tteoks, it’s best to defrost them in cold water for 30 min or defrost them in the package on the counter for a few hours.
Then blanch them quickly in boiling water for about 20-30 seconds until soft. Drain water from the rice cakes and let them cool. 
- Make sauce (optional) – mix gochujang, maple syrup, ketuchup and vinegar. Serve this as a dipping sauce or drizzle the bacon tteok gui with this sauce when done.
- Cut bacon into 1/2 lengths.
- Wrap each tteok with the bacon. You can wrap it DIAGONALLY like above. When wrapping, it’s good to let the edges overlap a bit so they don’t unravel easily.
- OR if you have a thicker, longer Garaetteok (top left pic), first cut them into smaller pieces, as wide as the bacon and wrap with the bacon straight (not diagonal), covering most of the tteok.
- Time to cook these beauties!!
- Stove Top – heat frying pan (doesn’t have to be non-stick) on medium heat. Place bacon wrapped tteoks on the frying pan with the loose end (seam) side down so that they don’t start to unravel when they cook and shrink up. Keep watch and turn the tteok occasionally to make sure it gets browned evenly throughout. It should take about 7-8 min altogether.
- Air Fryer – bake in the air fryer at 400 ℉ for 11 min or until it’s nicely brown and crispy. Air fryer works great because all the fat can be drained away while they are getting cooked. Be sure to line the bottom with a tray so it’s easy clean up afterwards. BTW, I added a plain tteok in there cause that’s also yummy just with some honey.
- Convection Oven – Roast or Bake in the oven at 400 ℉ for about 20 min or so. To help the fat drain away, place the tteok on a baking pan lined with a rack. If you dont’ have a rack, you can just simply roast them in the pan lined with some baking sheet or tin foil. When cooking without a rack, it’s good to check a couple times and turn them over so all sides cook evenly.
- Serve the Bacon Tteok Gui warm inserted with toothpicks for an easy party finger food appetizer and serve with a side of the Gochujang sauce or drizzle some on it!
Then blanch them quickly in boiling water for about 20-30 seconds until soft. Drain water from the rice cakes and let them cool. 
BTW, I added a plain tteok in there cause that’s also yummy just with some honey.
FROM JINJOO!
Chef’s Tips
- Try Thai Sweet Chili Sauce – besides my Gochujang sauce, a regular Thai sweet chili sauce (for fresh rolls) also goes really nicely.
- Tips for keeping bacon from unraveling – sometimes the bacon just likes to unravel or separate from the tteok. You can secure them with toothpicks before you cook them. Or after a few minutes, check to see if any are uncooperative. 😉 You can take the problematic ones out, let it cool to touch, re-wrap them and secure them with a toothpick and put them back in.
- STORAGE/REHEATING – keep leftovers in the fridge and reheat them in the frying pan on low heat for few minutes until tteok is soft.
Bacon Tteok Gui
Ingredients
- 1/2 lb bacon or 7 slices
- 8 oz tteokbokki korean rice cakes (200g) or 14 pieces
sauce
- 1 Tbsp Gochujang
- 2 tsp Maple Syrup
- 2 tsp ketchup
- 1/2 tsp rice vinegar or apple cide vinegar
Instructions
- Prepare tteok if you are not using freshly made tteok. For frozen tteoks, it’s best to defrost them in cold water for 30 min or defrost them in the package on the counter for a few hours. Then separate the tteok into individual sticks and blanch them quickly in boiling water until it’s soft. Drain water from the rice cakes and let them cool on a plate.
Gochujang Sauce (Optional)
- Make sauce – mix gochujang, maple syrup, ketuchup and vinegar. Serve this as a dipping sauce or drizzle the bacon tteok gui with this sauce when done. This sauce is not needed but adds great brightness and a zing which I think is wonderful but it's up to you.
- Cut bacon into 1/2 lengths.
- Wrap each tteokbokki tteok with bacon. You can wrap just the center of the tteok with the bacon or wrap at a diagonal, covering most of the tteok. When wrapping, it’s good to let the edges overlap a bit so they don’t unravel easily.
Time to cook these beauties!!
- Stove Top – heat frying pan (doesn’t have to be non-stick) on medium heat. Place bacon wrapped tteoks on the frying pan with the loose end side down so that they don’t start to unravel when they cook and shrink up. Keep watch and turn the tteok occasionally to make sure it gets browned evenly throughout. It should take about 7-8 min altogether.
- Air Fryer – bake in the air fryer at 400 ℉ for 11 min or until it’s nicely brown and crispy. Air fryer work great because all the fat can be drained away while they are getting cooked.
- Convection Oven – Roast or Bake in the oven at 400 ℉ for about 20 min or so. To help the fat drain away, place the tteok on a baking pan lined with a rack. If you dont’ have a rack, you can just simply roast them in the pan lined with some baking sheet or tin foil. When cooking in the regular oven, it’s good to check a couple times and turn them over so all sides cook evenly.
- Serve the Bacon Tteok Gui warm inserted with toothpicks for an easy party finger food appetizer. Drizzle some of the gochujang sauce on the tteoks or serve as a side dipping sauce – it’s up to you!!
Equipment
- frying pan
- toothpicks or skewers
Tips & Notes:
- Each serving is just 2 pieces of bacon tteok so increase the amount if you think you will be eating more.
- My gochujang sauce is best but if you don’t want to make it, a Thai Sweet Chili sauce works well too.
- To keep bacon from unraveling, you can secure it with a toothpick before cooking them.
- Store in refrigerator and reheat in a frying pan
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