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Korean Rice Cakes (Tteokbokki) are an incredibly popular street food in Korea. Made with a sweet and spicy sauce, the rice cakes are chewy and addictively delicious……plus 100% super quick & easy to make in under 30 minutes!
This recipe was originally published in May 2018. It has been updated for content and photos.
This Korean Rice Cake recipe is one of those must-make recipes. I don’t care if you’ve never heard of them before, it’s time to get learning.
The sauce is deliciously sweet and spicy, made with spicy Korean chili paste, soy sauce, rice vinegar and other seasoning. The rice cakes are soft but chewy, and sooooo addictive nice you try them.
I dare you to not fall in love. This is seriously the ultimate late night snack food too. If you’re into that kind of thing.
If you’re excited about learning how to cook other Korean street foods, check out these 8 Korean Street Food Recipes from My Korean Kitchen.
The Ingredients for Korean Rices Cake Recipe
First off, what are rice cakes? Rice cakes are basically made with pounded rice that is shaped into cylinders (or other shapes as you will find at the market). I buy mine at a local Asian market – I haven’t seen them pop up in my Albertson’s yet.
**Note I have used both the cylindrical and flat rice cakes for this recipe. Both work great and the instructions are the same.
Fish cake is typically ground up fish pressed together with sugar, potato starch and vegetables. You should be able to find it at your local Asian market, usually in the refrigerated or frozen food section. If not, you can leave the fish cake out.
I’ve included a list of all the ingredients below, with links to buy on Amazon if you like (note these are affiliate links).
- Korean rice cakes
– Cylindrical or flat cakes made from pounded rice. - Fish cake – ground up fish pressed together with sugar, potato starch and vegetables.
- Onion
- Dashi powder – A stock base made from dried kelp.
- Gochujang – Fermented Korean Chili paste. Ranges from mild to very hot spice level. It adds heat a smokiness to a dish. Learn a little more about gochujang and how to cook with it in this article from The Kitchn.
- Coconut sugar
- Garlic
- Soy sauce
- Gochugaru – Korean chili flakes. These have some spice, but are mostly just sweet and smoky.
- Sesame oil
- Sesame seeds
– Cylindrical or flat cakes made from pounded rice.
– A stock base made from dried kelp.
– Fermented Korean Chili paste. Ranges from mild to very hot spice level. It adds heat a smokiness to a dish. Learn a little more about
– Korean chili flakes. These have some spice, but are mostly just sweet and smoky.
If you want to learn a little bit more about read about the basic Korean ingredients you need to start cooking Korean cuisine.
Why This Korean Rice Cake Recipe Works
- The rice cakes have the perfect amount of chewiness to make them totally addictive;
- The sauce is sweet, spicy and tangy;
- The spice level can be adjusted depending on the spiciness of the gochujang you purchase.
How to Make Korean Rice Cakes
Step 1: Soak the rice cakes in warm water for 10-15 minutes. This help get some of the starch out. Drain them.
Step 2: Bring the water and dashi powder to a boil in a wok or a dutch oven.
Step 3: While your broth comes to a simmer, combine the gochujang, gochugaru, coconut sugar, soy sauce, onion and garlic in a bowl and mix.
Step 4: When the broth starts to simmer, add the sauce mixture to the wok (or pot) and bring back to a simmer.
Step 5: Add the rice cakes and fish cakes and bring back to a simmer.
Step 6: Simmer, stirring often, until sauce is thickened, about 5-10 minutes. If you don’t stir often, the rice cakes tend to stick.
Remove from heat, drizzle with sesame oil and garnish with green onion.
Expert Tips
- Soaking the rice cakes first helps to take out some of the starch and soften the rice cake before cooking;
- Make sure to stir the rice cakes regularly to prevent them from sticking while cooking;
- If you can’t find the fish cake, you can leave it out. However, it does add a wonderful flavor to the recipe, so if you can find it I highly recommend using it;
- Gochujang can be purchased in mild all the way to very hot. Buy according to your spice preference.
Frequently Asked Questions
- How do I store Korean rice cakes? Leftover Korean rice cakes can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 days. However, note they are not very good left over. The rice cakes become mushy. They are edible, but the nice chewy bite of the rice cake starts to disintegrate.
- Can I freeze Korean rice cakes? I do not recommend freezing Korean rice cakes.
- How do you reheat Korean rice cakes? You can reheat them in the microwave or on the stove top over medium heat, however, note that the rice cakes will become mushier when reheating.
More Korean Recipes
Create a Korean feast with these other favorite Korean recipes:
- Kimchi Fried Rice;
- Marinated Korean Beef;
- Korean Beef Nachos with Wonton Chips;
- Korean Baby Back Ribs;
- Sweet Korean Pancakes;
- Browse ALL the Korean Recipes!
Did you make this Korean Rice Cake recipe? Leave a comment below and let me know how they turned out!
Korean Rice Cake Recipe (Tteokbokki Recipe)
Ingredients
- 16 oz. Korean Rice Cakes (flat or cylindrical)
- 8 oz. fish cake
- 1/2 onion, chopped
- 2 cups water
- 2 tsp. dashi powder
- 2 tbsp. gochujang (Korean chili paste)
- 2 tbsp. coconut sugar
- 1 tbsp. soy sauce
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tsp. gochugaru (Korean chili flakes)
- 1 tsp. sesame oil
- Green onion (garnish)
- Sesame seeds (garnish)
Instructions
- Soak the rice cakes in warm water for 10-15 minutes. Drain.
- Bring water and dashi powder to a boil in a wok or a large saucepan.
- While the water is coming to a boil, combine the gochujang, gochugaru, coconut sugar, soy sauce, onion and garlic in a bowl.
- When the broth comes to a boil, add the sauce and mix to combine.
- Bring back to a simmer.
- Add the rice cakes and fish cakes. Bring to a simmer. Simmer until sauce has thickened and coats the rice cakes, stirring often. This should take about 5-10 minutes.
- Remove from heat and drizzle with sesame oil.
- Garnish with green onions and sesame seeds and serve.
Expert Tips:
- Soaking the rice cakes first helps to take out some of the starch and soften the rice cake before cooking;
- Make sure to stir the rice cakes regularly to prevent them from sticking while cooking;
- If you can't find the fish cake, you can leave it out. However, it does add a wonderful flavor to the recipe, so if you can find it I highly recommend using it;
- Gochujang can be purchased in mild all the way to very hot. Buy according to your spice preference.
Nutrition
This looks amazing! That sauce looks so smooth and full of flavor. I had not tried something like this before, but it was so delicious and I can see why it is a popular thing to get in Korea!
Thanks Ashley!