Tteokbokki (떡볶이)

Tteokbokki (떡볶이) is a Korean street-food dish of chewy rice cakes in a sweet and spicy sauce. This simple everyday version uses water, gochujang, gochugaru and soy sauce, with green onion added at the end. The recipe makes 2 servings and has a listed total time of 30 minutes.

Which rice cakes should I buy?

Choose 300 g of plain, cylinder-shaped tteokbokki rice cakes. Look for tteokbokki-tteok or topokki rice cakes at a Korean or other Asian grocery store, or an online retailer delivering to your country. A ready-made kit may include its own sauce; this recipe uses plain rice cakes with the sauce ingredients listed below. Crispy puffed rice snacks and sweet filled rice cakes are different products.

Preparing frozen or firm rice cakes

Follow the preparation instructions on your rice-cake packet. Frozen rice cakes may need thawing and a short soak before cooking; separate pieces that are stuck together. Fresh, refrigerated and frozen products do not all soften at the same speed. The rice cakes should become tender and chewy all the way through, rather than remaining hard in the center.

Gochujang and gochugaru have different jobs

The sauce uses gochujang paste for its sweet, spicy and savory flavor. Choose the paste rather than a bottle of ready-made dipping sauce, which may already contain other seasonings.

It also uses gochugaru, Korean chili flakes or powder. These add chili flavor and heat but do not replace the paste spoon for spoon. Read the quantities in the ingredient checklist before adding either one.

How can I make it less spicy?

Choose a milder gochujang and use less gochugaru if you prefer gentler heat. The result will differ from the listed recipe. Taste the sauce and adjust gradually: extra sugar makes it sweeter, but does not remove the chili already in the pan. Reducing gochujang also changes the sauce seasoning and body.

What should the finished sauce look like?

The recipe starts with 360 ml water. Stir regularly while the rice cakes cook so they do not stick. If the sauce is watery, let it simmer and reduce until it lightly coats the rice cakes and looks glossy. If it becomes too thick while the centers are still hard, add a small splash of water and keep cooking gently. Judge both the sauce and the rice cakes before serving.

Optional additions and serving

Serve straight away for the best soft, chewy texture. Eomuk, cabbage or boiled eggs are optional additions from the existing recipe; the basic ingredient list does not include them. More additions can change how much sauce you need, so keep the pan from drying out.

For other recipes using the same staples, see the Korean pantry starter guide and the ingredient pages linked above.