Korean Spicy Rice Cakes (Tteokbokki)

This Tteokbokki recipe is one of the easiest and yet truly satisfying recipe that you’ll ever cross across. Chewy sticky rice cakes coated in the most luscious sweet-spicy gochujang sauce, perfectly complemented by that hint of smokiness from crispy bacon. UTTERLY IRRESISTIBLE. 

So… what is Tteokbokki? It’s a dish that’s made up of chewy white rice cake noodles (called tteok) that are drenched in an incredible gochujang-based chilli sauce. It’s sweet, it’s spicy, and that bite you get from the rice cakes makes the whole experience just magical. In fact, Korean Spicy Rice Cakes are one of the most popular street foods in Korea. You’ve probably seen them in loads of travel videos or Korean dramas without realising what they’re called. 

If you know how much I love udon, mochi and everything else chewy, it should come as no surprise to you that I LOVE Tteokbokki. Not only for how insanely delicious it is, but also for how easy it is to put together. All you need is 20 minutes, a handful of ingredients and ta-da, an absolute Korean stunner right in front of you. Tteokbokki is traditionally served with Korean fish cakes (called eomuk) but because all I had on hand was bacon, I figured… why not add it in?! Bacon makes everything better and for this particular dish, the savouriness and smokiness of the bacon 1) added an extra depth of flavour and 2) balanced out the sweetness of the dish. 

Snazzing it up

If you like it more saucy, add more stock. If you prefer it to be spicier, add gochugaru or more gochujang. I’ve made mine less spicy but by all means go all out and have a cup of water (or a jug of beer) beside you while you scoff it down. Tteokbokki goes wonderfully well with beer…oh and soju! 

Other ingredients you could add  include Korean fish cakes (eomuk), sliced cabbage, cheese, dumplings (mandu), seafood, spam, sausages etc.

Getting that ‘tteok’ in Tteokbokki 

Tteok comes in various shapes and sizes. The cylinder-shaped ones are typically used in this dish while the thin oval ones are ideal for making tteokguk (rice cake soup). That said, you can use them interchangeably although you will have to adjust your cooking time based on the size of the rice cakes. You will find both types in the refrigerated section of Asian supermarkets. If you can, avoid buying frozen ones as they tend to be dry, crack easily, and aren’t as chewy.  

Print Recipe

Korean Spicy Rice Cakes (Tteokbokki)

(3 votes, average: 4.33 out of 5)

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Serves: 2

This Tteokbokki recipe is one of the easiest and yet truly satisfying recipe that you’ll ever cross across. Chewy rice cakes coated in the most luscious sweet-spicy gochujang sauce, perfectly complemented by that hint of smokiness from. UTTERLY IRRESISTIBLE.

Ingredients

• 500g Korean rice cakes
• 4 strips of bacon, sliced
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 700ml anchovy or chicken stock
• 2 1/2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 1/2 tablespoons gochujang
• 2 tablespoons light soy sauce
• 2 hard boiled eggs
• 2 spring onions, sliced diagonally
• 2 tablespoons sesame seeds

Instructions

1

In a large bowl, soak the rice cakes in warm water for 20 minutes.

2

In the meantime, place the bacon into a cold pan and heat it up over medium high heat - this helps to render out the fat. Once the bacon strips are nicely browned, add in the stock, sugar, gochujang and soy sauce. Stir to combine and bring it to a boil.

3

Drain the soaked rice cakes and add them into the boiling sauce. Cook on medium-high heat for 10 minutes, stirring frequently so that the rice cakes don’t stick to the bottom of the pan.

4

Once the sauce has reduced and thickened, taste it and adjust for seasoning. Stir in the eggs and spring onions, then garnish with sesame seeds and serve immediately.