Spicy Rice Cake (떡뽁이 Ddukbokki or Tteokbokki) with Vegetables is one of my most favorite childhood snacks. Best version is when it is cooked at the table.
In Korea, you can find spicy rice cake or ddukbokki/tteokbokki in many different places from street carts to restaurants. Spicy rice cake is also served in many different ways. There are even restaurants that serve just different kinds of tteokbokki which are called 떡볶이 집 (“ddukbokki jip” which means House of Ddukbokki). These places serve ddukbokki with different sauces and with different choices of noodles (쫄면 Jjol myun or 라면 ramen for example). Ddukbokki is also sold on street carts where often times you find the best tasting ones and for many Korean kids, it’s their most favorite after school snack on their way home. The recipe listed here is based on a 즉석떡볶이 (jeuksuk (instant) ddukbokki ) version where restaurants serve it hot pot style, on top of a portable gas stove and cooked right at your table. I didn’t cook it at the table in the pictures you see here but I have definitely cooked it in an electric hot pot at home before and it’s great fun for the whole family.
Spicy Rice Cake (Tteokbokki/Ddukbokki) with Vegetables
Prep time: 5 min. Cooking time: 20 min Servings: 3-4 Difficulty: Easy
Ingredients (see Recipe Card below)
Directions
1. If the tteokbokki tteok is frozen, defrost in cold water while you prepare other ingredients. The type of rice cakes used for tteokbokki are shaped like little logs but you can also use the thin ovalettes used for Rice Cake Soup. They are all the same tteok but just cut differently.
2. Cut cabbage, carrots and onions and any other vegetables. Korean fish cake (어묵 Uhmook also called 오뎅(oden) which comes from Japanese) comes in various shapes but the ones normally used here is one that comes in thin rectanglular sheets (사각오뎅 Sahgahk Oden). They can be found in the freezer aisle in most Korean markets. I did not get to take a picture of the package but there usually isn’t a whole lot of difference among the different brands so buy whatever looks good to you.
3. Use a saute pan deep enough to hold all the ingredients. Non-stick is easier since the tteok tends to stick to the bottom of the pan. Add water or anchovy stock, carrots, cabbage and onions to the pan and bring to a boil.
4. Add gochujang, garlic, soy sauce, salt and sugar to this mixture while you wait for it to boil.
5. Once it starts to boil, add rice cakes, fish cake and stir. Simmer for 20 min. stirring occasionally to make sure the dduk doesn’t burn at the bottom. Taste a piece of the dduk when it’s close to 20 min and adjust your seasonings. Don’t taste it in the beginning because the seasoning will not have fully penetrated into the dduk yet and it will taste very bland. Add ketchup to add that little extra something at the end. Sprinkle some black pepper.
Spicy Rice Cake (Tteokbokki) with Vegetables and Fish Cake
Ingredients
- 16 oz rice cake for tteokbokki
- 2 sheets Korean rectangular fish cake (Sahgahk Oden, cut into squares)
- 2 cups cabbage (cut into strips or 1 in squares)
- 1 carrot (sliced)
- 1/2 onion (sliced)
- 1 Tbsp chopped garlic (or 1 tsp garlic powder)
- 3 cups water (or anchovy stock is even better)
- 2 Tbsp gochujang (spicy red bean paste)
- 1 Tbsp sugar
- 1 Tbsp soy sauce
- 1/4 tsp salt
- Dash of black pepper
- 1 tsp ketchup (optional)
- 1 tsp guk kanjang (Korean soy sauce for soups – optional)
Other optional vegetables
- 1-2 green onions (cut into 2 in long pieces)
- 2-3 perilla leaves (cut into thin strips)
Instructions
- If the rice cakes are frozen, defrost in cold water while you prepare other ingredients. The type of rice cakes used for tteokbokki are shaped like little logs but you can also use the thin ovalettes used for Tteok Guk. They are all the same rice cakes but just cut differently.
- Cut cabbage, carrots and onions and any other vegetables. Korean fish cake (Uhmook also called oden which comes from Japanese) comes in various shapes but the ones normally used here is one that comes in thin rectanglular sheets (Sahgahk Oden). They can be found in the freezer aisle in most Korean markets.
- Get a saute pan deep enough to hold all the ingredients. Non stick is easier since the dduk tends to stick to the bottom of the pan. Add water or anchovy stock, carrots, cabbage and onions to the pan and bring to a boil.
- Add gochujang, garlic, soy sauce, salt and sugar to this mixture while you wait for it to boil.
- Once it starts to boil, add tteok, fish cake and stir. Simmer for 20 min. stirring occasionally to make sure rice cakes don't burn at the bottom. Taste when it’s close to 20 min and adjust your seasonings. Don’t taste it in the beginning because the seasoning will not have fully penetrated into the tteok yet and it will taste very bland. Add ketchup to add that little extra something at the end. Sprinkle some black pepper.
- And if you are going to add green onions or perilla leaves, add it at the end, right before turning your heat off.
Tips & Notes:
- Ramen noodles – you can add ramen noodles directly into the ddukbokki while it is cooking. However, this is a bit risky for 2 reasons – the noodles soak up the liquid very quickly so you will have to keep adding extra water; it’s very easy to overcook the noodles which makes the whole dish into one giant blob of dduk… SO… I recommend that you boil the ramen noodles separately in water (make sure you cook it al dente) and then just mix it in quickly at the very end.
- Jjol Myun (쫄면) – this noodle is very stringy, chewy and adds great texture to the dish. Add this when you add the dduk and it should cook together nicely. You will need extra water for this too.
- Boiled eggs – make some hard boiled eggs and add it to the ddukbokki. The savory, spicy sauce goes very well with the egg.
Nutrition Information:
What other things can I add to tteokbokki ?
- Ramen noodles – you can add ramen noodles directly into the tteokbokki while it is cooking. However, this is a bit risky for 2 reasons – the noodles soak up the liquid very quickly so you will have to keep adding extra water; it’s very easy to overcook the noodles which makes the whole dish into one giant blob of tteok… SO… I recommend that you boil the ramen noodles separately in water (make sure you cook it al dente) and then just mix it in quickly at the very end.
- Jjol Myun (쫄면) – this noodle is very stringy, chewy and adds great texture to the dish. Add this when you add the dduk and it should cook together nicely. You will need extra water for this too.
- Boiled eggs – make some hard boiled eggs and add it to the tteokbokki. The savory, spicy sauce goes very well with the egg.
Why doesn’t this tteokbokki taste like the ones I eat at restaurants or on the street?
- MSG… – if you really want to get that taste, you will have to add some MSG or some variation of that like dashida(다시다).
- ramen soup powder – another way to get a similar taste is to sprinkle some ramen soup powder (which has MSG) on your ddukbokki.
Any variations?
- My niece MJ recently told me about a variation where you roast the dduk in an iron skillet first before cooking it in the sauce. Adds additional crunchy texture and some smoky flavor which I’m sure will only make it better. In Korea, around New Year’s, when you have rice cakes coming out of your ears, one way to eat the freshly made tteok is to roast them over open fire and then eat them with some sugar sprinkled on top.
I made this last night to eat with some fried chicken (well, vegetarian fried “chick’n,” but it was quite realistic!) to dip in the sauce, and OMG!!! it’s SO good. I also made some mostly-vegetarian “fish cakes” with tofu, cut like fish cakes, fried and seasoned to taste like 사각오뎅. your sauce recipe is excellent and so well-balanced, and it comes together and turns into something beautiful! this is easily now one of my top 10 most favorite recipes! thank you.
Hi Diane, wow thank you soo much for the awesome review. And making tofu taste something like fish cakes is a brilliant idea!
My wife is Korean so I have been trying so many of your recipes over the past years. All of them remind us of the wonderful trips to Korea. I thank you so much for your effort and wonderful talents.
Thank you so much Eric for your kind words. I am so happy to hear that.
I made it just now and it was great; very easy to make. I halfed the recipe and didn’t add fish cakes. I also cut the gochujang by half since I didn’t want it to be too spicy.
One question I have is whether rice cakes are something you make to be eaten immediately. I’ve tried various recipes with rice cakes and they don’t reheat well at all; the rice cakes become hard and not very tasty. Is my assumption correct?
Very happy to hear that you enjoyed the recipe. Rice cakes for Tteokbokki or Tteokguk are best when eaten fresh but if made properly, they should reheat well – in soups or sauces like this one or just roasted in a frying pan. Don’t reheat in the microwave as it will harden pretty quickly and once it does that, you can’t reheat after. Best to freeze leftover ones and then use.