Tteokbokki are chewy rice cakes stir-fried in a sweet, spicy sauce with umami-flavored fish cakes. It's a popular South Korean street food that is easy to make at home with simple ingredients in 20 minutes! Great as a snack or meal.
My version of this Korean food is slightly less spicy than the original version which is super spicy. But it's still spicy and not for the faint of heart!
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Tteokbokki (aka topokki or dukbokki) means "stir-fried rice cake" in Korean. You will find this served at many Korean restaurants or street vendors and shared between friends. It's a cozy red dish you'll also see featured in many Korean dramas as it's comfort food to South Koreans and I absolutely love it!
There are also different variations of this Korean dish, such as Rose Tteokbokki (creamy milder version), Jajang Tteokbokki (black bean version), Gukmul Tteokbokki (soupy rice cakes), and Gunjung Tteokbokki (a soy sauce version). The variations are endless
Ingredients & Substitutions
Please scroll down to the below Recipe card for full measurements
- Fresh or Refrigerated Korean Rice Cakes: Korean rice cakes are white, cylindrical and 2-3 inches long and made of a combination of wheat flour and rice flour grounded from short-grain rice. They have a bouncy chewy texture and come in various shapes and sizes (like flat discs to extra long). Avoid using the frozen kind for best results - read why below.
- Cold water: or substitute with vegetable broth, chicken broth or anchovy broth for extra flavor!
- Korean fish cakes: these come in sheets that are about 7 x 4 inches in dimension. You can find them in the refrigerated section at the Asian grocery store. Or substitute with fish balls. If you're not a fan of fish cakes, substitute with sliced bacon, or hard-boiled egg.
- Dried kelp: this offers umami flavor to the stock - do not skip!
- Green onions
- Sesame seeds: substitute with sesame oil. If you're allergic, omit altogether.
Tteokbokki Sauce
- Gochujang: a Korean red chili paste that is sweet, spicy and smoky. It's made of red chili flakes, fermented soy beans, glutinous rice and salt and commonly used in Korean cuisine. Gochujang is sold in different spice levels so make sure to get the mild kind if you're new to spice. It usually comes in a smaller or larger red plastic rectangular tub at the Korean grocery store in the sauce aisle.
- Regular soy sauce: or substitute with low sodium soy sauce or light soy sauce or a gluten-free soy sauce of your choice.
- White granulated sugar
- Garlic
- Gochugaru: Korean chili flakes made of dried red peppers. These offer a lot of red color and spice to our dish. They can come in a large plastic package or in smaller plastic containers. Pro Tip: If you buy the big bag, you can freeze the chili flakes to extend the usage for months! I do this all the time with a new pack.
Note: Most Asian grocery stores will carry most of the Asian specific ingredients
Fresh or Refrigerated vs. Frozen Rice Cakes?
Pro Tip: I recommend using and buying fresh rice cakes or refrigerated rice cakes at the Korean market. You can usually find the fresh kind at the front of the supermarket.
I don't recommend using frozen rice cakes as they easily splinter from my experience because they are hard, cracked and dry. But if you only have frozen ones, soak them in warm water for at least 20-30 minutes to help them acclimatize and rehydrate. I also don't recommend using re-frozen rice cakes that were thawed already as this is a sure way to have splintered rice cakes.
Expert Tips
- Use fresh or refrigerated rice cakes best results. The fresh or refrigerated kind is more chewy and moist. They also don't splinter as easily in the sauce like frozen ones do.
- Soak rice cakes in warm water. They need to be acclimatized to warmer temperature before adding to the hot bubbling sauce to prevent splintering.
- Use a non-stick pan for easy clean up. Rice cakes are sticky so it's best to use a non-stick pan for this recipe.
- Do not overcook the rice cakes. Once they're chewy and fork tender, remove them off heat or they will become mushy and will eventually splinter.
Instructions
Below are step-by-step instructions on how to make tteokbokki:
Prepare Rice Cakes
Soak rice cakes in warm water for 5 minutes to help them rehydrate and adjust them to room temperature. Strain the liquids.
Create Sauce
In a bowl, combine sauce ingredients until well combined and set aside.
Create Broth
In a non-stick pan, add water and dried kelp. Bring to boil.
Add Sauce
Once it reaches a boil, mix in sauce until combined with water. Bring to a boil.
Add Fish Cakes, Rice Cakes & Green Onions
Add fish cakes, rice cakes and green onions. Lower heat to medium heat. Let it simmer for 10 minutes uncovered, until sauce has thickened.
Reduce Sauce & Garnish
Once sauce has thickened, remove off heat. Garnish with sesame seeds. Enjoy!
Storage & Reheating
- Leftovers will last up to 4 days stored in an airtight container in the fridge.
- To reheat, microwave for 2-3 minutes or reheat on the stovetop in a pan on medium heat until hot.
- Freezer-friendly? No, unfortunately they will turn hard with the cold. They're best consumed immediately.
Pairing Suggestions
There are various ways to enjoy these spicy Korean rice cakes as the sauce is so flavorful and pairs with many delicious ingredients. I love to enjoy my tteokbokki with fried mandu (Korean dumplings), hard-boiled eggs, gimmari (crispy fried seaweed rolls), Korean blood sausages or with instant ramen boiled in the sauce.
FAQ
If they're come frozen or were re-frozen, they can develop cracks in the rice cake causing them to split apart in the sauce. I always recommend to soak the rice cakes in warm water for at least 5 minutes or even longer to prevent splintering.
I recommend reducing the gochugaru and gochujang. You can even leave them out of the sauce mixture and then add them to taste into the broth so you can adjust the levels.
Other Korean recipes you may like!
📖 Recipe
Quick & Easy Tteokbokki
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups Korean rice cakes
- 2 cups water or vegetable stock for more flavour
- 1 cup Korean fish cake sliced into triangles or strips (or sub with Fish Cake Balls)
- 4 pieces dried kelp
- 2 stalks green onion chopped into 1 inch pieces
- 1 teaspoon Sesame seeds (optional garnish)
Sauce:
- ½ tablespoon gochujang mild type
- 2 tablespoon regular soy sauce
- 3 tablespoon white granulated sugar
- 3 teaspoon garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon gochugaru
Instructions
- Soak rice cakes in warm water for 5 minutes. Strain the liquids.
- In a bowl, combine sauce ingredients until well combined and set aside.
- In a non-stick pan, add water and dried kelp. Bring to boil.
- Once it reaches a boil, mix in sauce until combined with water. Bring to a boil.
- Add fish cakes, rice cakes and green onions. Lower heat to medium flame. Let it simmer for 10 minutes uncovered, until sauce has thickened.
- Once sauce has thickened, remove off heat. Garnish with sesame seeds. Enjoy!
Annie
Came out very good! And the recipe was very easy. More on the sweet side, and a pleasant spice level.
Christie Lai
Thank you so much for the positive feedback and for making my recipe! Glad you enjoyed it!
Alica
This was sooo tasty and I personally did not think it was too spicy. I added a tablespoon of cornstarch with some water at the end to make the sauce a little more thick. Will absolutely make this more often. Thank you!!! Greetings from Germany 🙂
Christie Lai
Thanks so much for making my recipe, Alica! I am so glad it wasn't too spicy and thanks for sharing that note on the added cornstarch. Glad it worked out 🙂
Jd
Yes I did enjoy your Korean seafood pancake recpe