Tteokbokki

Korean rice cake with chilli sauce

Tteokbokki is a very popular dish in South Korea. The "rice cakes" have a long tradition in Korea. Tteokbokki in a creamy, hot chilli sauce, prepared with the fermented chilli paste "Gochujang", has, however, only been known in this form since the mid-1950s. Apparently, the dish was created by pure chance. The noodles, which are pleasantly "slippery" when cooked, probably accidentally fell into the red, hot sauce and when the mishap was eaten, it was quite quickly clear that this chance combination was a hit.

Ingredients (serves 4)

400 g frozen or dried rice cake
4 slices of fish cake
80 g onions
3 garlic cloves
80 g carrots
2 spring onions
2 tsp roasted sesame seeds

Seasoning sauce:
4 tbsp Gochujang chilli paste
8 tsp vegetable oil
8 tsp honey
4 tsp soy sauce
2 tsp finely chopped garlic
Pinch of black pepper
800 ml water

Info: Fish cake is a culinary dish that consists of filleted fish or other chopped or ground seafood, mixed with a starchy ingredient and deep-fried until golden brown. You can find fish cakes in Asian markets, for example, or even in larger supermarkets with a country speciality section.

Preparation:
Cook the frozen rice cake until it starts to float. Then wash the rice cakes in cold water and add 1 teaspoon of vegetable oil to prevent the rice cakes from sticking together. If you are using freshly made rice cakes, you can skip this step.

Cut the fish cake into bite-sized pieces. Cut the onion into narrow strips. Halve the carrots and cut them into slices. Peel the garlic and chop finely.

Mix all ingredients for the seasoning sauce. You can adjust the heat by using more or less gochujang sauce.

Put some oil in a deep pan and fry the onions and garlic over medium heat for 1 minute.

Add the seasoning sauce to the onions and garlic and bring to a boil. As soon as it starts to boil, add the rice cakes. Let everything simmer for about 10 minutes. Then add the rest of the ingredients, except for the toasted sesame seeds, and let everything simmer for another 5 minutes.

Serve the tteokbokki in a bowl and sprinkle the toasted sesame seeds on top.