Quick tips
- Soak frozen rice cakes briefly in water before cooking.
- Let the sauce simmer over medium heat and stir regularly.
- For a milder version, use less gochugaru and balance the sauce with a little sugar.
Tteokbokki (떡볶이)
Street food🕒 30 mins🍽️ 2 servings
Korean street food
Tteokbokki needs a little patience
Tteokbokki is simple, but the sauce makes the dish. I like to let it simmer until it turns glossy and clings to the rice cakes instead of staying watery.
My notes for this recipe
Tteokbokki is a Korean rice cake dish cooked in a sweet and spicy sauce. Tteokbokki rice cakes are usually sold frozen or vacuum-packed at Asian grocery stores or Korean online shops.
This is my simple everyday version of tteokbokki. In Korea, there are many different varieties with different sauces, toppings, and types of rice cakes. This version is intentionally simple and works well when you want something warm, spicy, and quick at home.
There are two common types of rice cakes for tteokbokki. Rice tteok is usually chewier, while mil-tteok, made with wheat flour, is often softer and absorbs the sauce well. Many people in Korea have their own preference, but either type works for this recipe.
If the rice cakes are frozen, soak them briefly in water before cooking so they soften and cook more evenly.
Traditional Korean home recipes often use ordinary spoon measurements. For clarity, the quantities in this recipe are written so they are easy to follow with standard measuring spoons.
How I cook it
Bring 360 ml of water to a boil in a pot. Add the tteokbokki rice cakes. If the rice cakes are frozen, soak them briefly in water first.
When the water starts boiling again, add the sauce ingredients and mix well. Keep stirring often while the rice cakes cook, so they do not stick to the bottom.
Simmer until the sauce has reduced and becomes slightly glossy. Cut the green onion into small pieces with scissors and sprinkle sesame seeds on top.
Serve right away. If you want to make it more filling, you can add eomuk, cabbage, boiled eggs, or extra sesame seeds.
