Spicy Korean Rice Cakes (Tteokbokki) Recipe (2024)

I hate it when people do this, so, sorry, but I combined this recipe with another (Maangchi from youtube), and I suggest others do the same. Maangchi's has more sauce so lots of flavour. I had never made rice cakes before and I thought they were great. I love meat and used beef as called for in this recipe but next time I won't - it didn't add anything and I think it would be better to have some meat on the side. I used more cabbage and scallions. I will make this again and again.

In Korea we typically don’t use meat for this dish but use odeng (fish cakes, usually flat types cut into pieces) instead. We also like to put on different kinds of add-ons, like noodles (instant ramen noodles, udon noodles, or glass noodles), Korean shiso, hard-boiled eggs, and/or cheese (low-moisture mozzarella, cheddar, or American cheese works well). Great accompanied with fried gyoza or gimbop (Korean style roll sushi).

According to my mother-in-law, dried rice cakes should ideally be soaked overnight. I've found that soaking them for any less produces an unpleasant texture and they don't cook evenly. I like this recipe overall, but I usually add more soy sauce and chili sauce after I've added the rice cakes to the wok, because I prefer a thicker, spicier sauce.

Make sure to put some oil in the pan (if you're not using a wok) if it's nonstick before you heat it up for step 3, or you could wind up damaging your pan.I made this vegetarian using mushrooms instead of the beef (let them release their juices and turn golden before adding the onion, scallions, and cabbage) and it was great.

Hi there,I’m confused. It says add scallions to the stir fry but then says to add them again at the end. Do you need more scallions? No one seems to have discussed this. Thanks!

Stir fry the white parts, which are more onion-like; add in the green parts uncooked (they'll wilt in the heat).

I had read elsewhere you should soak them for around an hour.

Made a few modifications to this, used tofu instead of beef. Used dried tteok, used the same application (soaking first) which I'm not sure is necessary but they came out soft and chewy and perfect so there you go. I finished the dish with some cilantro and fresh lime to brighten it up and give balance to the heat of the gochujang. This came together so quickly and is very flavorful and satisfying. Plenty of ways to adapt this to your taste as well which I appreciate.

What I love about this recipe is that you can follow it strictly, or riff on it. Either way, it comes out pretty delicious. I doubled the recipe using what I had on hand: 1lb ground beef, 1/4 of a shredded red cabbage, a green pepper, and a red pepper - along with the onion. Taste as you go, adding more soy sauce, sesame oil, or sugar as necessary. Soaking the tteok in water is key in this recipe. I ended up soaking mine for about 30mins.

Doubled the recipe. Used frozen Korean rice cakes from Trader Joe's and soaked them in cold water for 20 minutes or so. This was delicious.

Have made this multiple times, it is a huge hit. Found tteokbokki at a local Korean market, if you haven’t had it, it’s a delightful delicious chewy rice cake (almost like a gnocchi in feel). Very very worth using. Recipe best with a thin sliced beef. Veggies can be swapped in and out - have used cabbage, asparagus. Gochujang is pretty widely available now - I also threw in a lot of sriracha (to taste). This is a “measure with your heart” kind of recipe that’s quick, delicious, easy.

This is an easy, comforting recipe, and everyone in the family enjoyed it. We plan to add melted cheese, eggs, and button mushroom next time.

I omitted the beef in favor of shiitake mushrooms, swapped in pea shoots and red bell peppers for the cabbage to use up vegetables I had in the house, and used chicken stock instead of water. The sauce was spicy without being overwhelming. We all enjoyed it and would eat it again.

Directions call for adding scallions in step 3 and in step 5. Which one is it?

Very good though I thought it benefited from a sprinkling of salt while cooking. First time cooking tteok. I had frozen cylindrical ones and, taking the advice of others, I let them soak for several hours before using. They were still rock hard before cooking, which surprised me, but they softened right up while simmering in the wok per the recipe. No need to cut them crosswise.

I added shredded carrots and shiitake mushrooms and used ground pork instead of beef. Excellent.

I added a piece of cheese and it was delicious!

I had frozen rice cakes (disk-shaped) and even after soaking for an hour, some were still too chewy -- next time I'll soak at least 2 hours.

Cameron, I have made a dish using frozen rice cakes once and followed the package directions for soaking them 10 minutes before proceeding with the recipe. They were very firm on the interior and falling apart slimy on the outside. Yuck! I’m going to try your mom’s method before throwing the rest of them out. Thanks!

Enjoyed this recipe and will put into the rotation. Although not authentic, I included thinly sliced beef. Red cabbage. More soy sauce at simmering stage.I had dried tteok, which I cut crosswise in half; the package suggested using them as is. Reading other recipes, I wasn't sure they would soften in the simmering stage, so I pre-soaked for 2 hours—ultimately I don't think it made difference so I won't do that again. Looking forward to trying tteok in thin oval form next.

This recipe has been one of my go-tos for a fast Friday evening dinner using things I usually have in the fridge or freezer.I’ve found that frozen tteok cook much faster than fresh, and I usually amp up the sauce by doubling the gochujang.

This was incredibly delicious. I needed all advice about soaking the rice cakes and upped the ante by using warm water for an hour. I also added a bit more veg stock (instead of water) to make it soupier and it was just fabulous.

Please amend this recipe for better authenticity with the following tips: 1. use warm water and soak the rice cakes at least 3x longer than recommended or until softened, 2. use a proper anchovy stock- it will taste too bland as written with water, 3. don’t mix beef in it- eat the delicious beef separately because the flavor will get drowned in the strong hot sauce and be wasted, 4. reduce the excessive ratio of cabbage and only put maybe 1/2 cup for the whole recipe. See Maangchi’s version!

Can thawed (uncooked) tteok be refrozen? (The package of frozen tteok I bought contains more than I can use in one meal.)