Have you tried tteobokki, Korean Spicy stir-fried rice cake before? I love this Korean dish which is commonly found along the streets of Korea. I love it for its spicy chewy tasting rice cake. I love the bite of the rice cake. I like that it can fill me up easily, and that leftovers can be kept overnight, only to be reheated the next day and paired with instant ramen.
Authentic tteokbokki does not have the addition of chicken franks and chinese fishcakes but i added them anyway because this was gonna be our one-pot dish for a Saturday evening. I could not get Korean fishcakes, hence I used the chinese one. Oh... I miss tteokbokki now as I blog away! I love Korean food. Okay, Korean anything, anything Korean I all like :P
Tteokbokki (Korean Spicy Stir-fried Rice Cake)
(Serves 3 to 4)
1 packet of rice cake (I bought Singlong brand, 500g rice cake)
300g bokchoy or cabbage (wash and cut into 1 inch size)
1 sheet of Korean fishcake (I used 1 whole pc of the chinese kind)
5 pcs spring onion (3 to cut into 1-inch long, 2 to cut into small bits for garnishing)
1 chicken frank (sliced thinly) - optional
2 to 3 tbsp Gochujang, Korean red chilli pepper paste
About 1.2l anchovy stock (1 handful of dried anchovies + 1.3l water)
6 pc garlic, minced
1 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tbsp sugar
2 to 3 tsp sesame seeds
1 tsp sesame oil
1. Remove head and guts of dried anchovies and rinse with water twice. Drain and put anchovies into stock bag or straight into small pot. Fill pot with 1.5l water and bring to a gentle boil, without lid on hight heat. Bring down heat to medium high and let boil for further 15 to 20min. Use a strainer to remove anchovies. Set aside.
2. This could be an extra step but I normally do this to remove excess oil and perhaps quicken the cooking of the rice cake at the later stage. In a separate pot of boiling water, blanch rice cakes for about 1min, remove with sieve or strainer and leave in a pot of room temperature water.
3. Pour anchovy stock into a bigger cooking pan and turn on high heat and bring to a boil. Add in minced garlic and Korean red chilli pepper paste (gochujang) and stir well till chilli paste dissolves. Add in sugar and light soy sauce and stir till sugar dissolves. You may taste the sauce to see if you would like to add in more chilli paste or add in more sugar to bring down the spiciness.
4. Add in blanched rice cakes, sliced chicken franks, fishcakes and spring onions, stir and mix well. Cover with lid and let boil for about 8min.
5. Stir in bokchoy or cabbage and stir well. Cover and let boil for further 5min or so till rice cakes have softened. Stir in sesame oil and sesame seeds. Serve!
An easy and simple to cook yummy Korean street food!
To reheat, add in a little water and bring to boil on low heat. Sprinkle with some sesame seeds and serve.
Oh! Oh! Oh! Janice, I love those Korean rice cakes! So, so, delicious! The chewy texture is very comforting somehow. I had it at a Korean restaurant some time ago and it was very memorable. But the last one I had many months ago was not so good because the rice cake was dry at some parts. I think the kitchen did not manage the stocks very well. I'm with you on Korean food. Love it! Love it! Love it!
ReplyDeleteWow Phong Hong, I can feel your love for Korean food, like me :) It has been sometimes since I had these rice cakes outside too. Like you said, some are too dry, and I had those that were kinda overcooked and had this soft starchy layer outside which no longer gave that chewy bite. On top it all, price of rice cakes here don't come cheap here..
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