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I’m making tteokbokki for the first time tonight: any tips?
I’m going purely on YouTube vids for the technique. They all seem to agree to soak in water and then cook the rice cakes in stock, then add gochujang, gochugaru, soy sauce, sugar, cook until thick, top with spring onion and optionally add cheese. (I’m skipping the fish cakes).
Some recipes start by frying some garlic, some fry off the gochugaru etc for a minute, some add the white part of the spring onion much earlier… I’m not sure whether any of these steps are necessary/make a big difference.
Anyone who is familiar with the dish - is there anything extra you do to elevate this dish? Anything I should know about the cooking process?
I follow Maangchi's recipe but I add some onions, carrots and sometimes minced garlic in there too. I've always added spring onion from the start. And I'm too lazy to garnish with any spring onion so I just throw it all in.
I don't think I've soaked frozen/chilled tteok (rice cake) for tteokbokki before. The time it takes for the stock to reduce and thicken will soften the tteok enough. Maybe that's due to me using smaller tteok. But if you're using dehydrated tteok then yes, soak them.
I've never fried garlic or gochugaru for this dish. I think that will make the dish kinda greasy.
I like crispy kimmari with tteokbokki. Fried dumpling is nice, too. If you're not turned away by deep fried food, you gotta try it.
Oh, and I'd say hold back the soy sauce if your stock is already seasoned. It might not need it.
Now I want some tteokbokki.
Thank you! Some great tips here. I think I’ll follow that recipe as it’s been vetted! I like the idea of adding a few veggies to round it out. I think I’ll make it the classic way first, and then experiment.
I haven’t been this excited for dinner in a long time!
Omg lads, it was SO GOOD! You know when you’ve seen lots of pictures or videos of a food and then when you finally taste it it’s not as good as it looked? I was worried that would happen but if anything it was better! A perfect comfort food.
I also made an Italian-Korean fusion version with a tomato pasta style sauce for the children which was also delicious. I think I prefer topokki to gnocchi for texture.
Can’t wait to eat it again. 11/10
I'm glad to hear you loved it! Tteok in tomato pasta sauce sounds good, too. My nephew has been asking me to make him tteok in cheese sauce. Now I'm thinking baked tteok (instead of mac) and cheese.
But I gotta buy some more tteok first, I ran out of it a while ago. I actually tried to make some yesterday but after dropping the dough on the floor twice, I gave up. LOL. I might try again today.
The way I made the kids sauce was to just add some tomato paste (mine had herbs and garlic in so was already more flavourful) to the stock. It worked really well!
I bet Mac n cheese style would be amazing. Please report back if you make it!
I just made it! I blanched tteok for a bit to soften then added it to the cheese sauce. I pretty much eyeballed everything. What's left is to taste it.
I also just made Tteokbokki. I don't really like the thin fish cake in it so I deep fried fish cake cut into strips instead. I'd make kimmari but I got lazy.
Edit: It turned out pretty good. I think smaller tteok would be better, though. I bought regular sized one this time around.
Was the cheese sauce roux based or a different method? Sounds delicious!
We had a bit of trad tteokbokki and a bit of the Italian-fusion left so I mixed them together and it was really good. I think I’ll add a bit of tomato paste next time I make tteokbokki!
Yes, roux based. I made bechamel then added some cheeses. Carbonara style would work too, I think. Might be a bit trickier, though.
Tomato goes well with gochujang! I reckon it'll add a nice acidity to the dish.
If you're looking for another comforting Korean dish to try next: Japchae.
The clear noodles (sweet potato starch) are delightfully chewy; the flavour is simple but very more-ish; you can load in veggies to feel a little healthier ;)
As always, Maanchi has it covered: https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/japchae
Aside from the noodles, I make little tweaks depending on what I have (eg, swiss chard from the garden vs. spinach; different mushrooms; no meat; other veggies julienned; etc...). And, while it looks like a lot of steps, it's all pretty simple in the end!
That sounds amazing, thank you!
You probably made it already and im sure it was great. We use the maangchi recipe too and knock it out for lunch sometimes. So good, i like mine spicy and sometimes i throw in some perogies with the rice cakes. Maybe ill make some tomorrow...
I’m making it right now! It looks sooo good.
Glad to have a second recommendation for that recipe!
Dumplings in it sounds amazing. Also yes you should, and so should anyone reading this thread, and then we should compare notes
I know this is late, but everyone I know makes it differently. I guess that applies to all food, but I don't think there is some authentic version everyone aspires to. Glad to hear it turned out for you!
I know you said you were skipping the fish cakes, but I highly recommend getting some (odeng) the next time you make it. The tteokbokki my mom and grandma made almost always had odeng and it was my favorite part.
How fishy do they taste? And what’s the texture like? They look a bit like thin omelettes. I actually didn’t see any in the store I was at anyway, but I would be a bit nervous to use them knowing nothing about the flavour!
At least the ones I've had (at restaurants) aren't strongly flavoured. A bit savoury, but against the tteokbokki sauce, to me they mostly offer another texture (spongy, a bit chewy). I'm not a fan of strong fishy flavours and enjoyed them, for what that's worth.
That actually sounds quite nice but I just googled them and they have wheat in which I can’t eat. But good to know regardless! Thanks
If you have any korean grocery stores, see if any of them make fresh rice-cakes in-store. Makes a huge difference from the frozen ones you can buy in my opinion.
The ones I got were from the fridge, so not fresh but not frozen either. No idea where they are on the scale.
I’ll keep an eye out for freshly made ones! Thanks