Tteokbokki is chewy rice cakes cooked in a red, spicy broth. It’s a popular Korean street food. When I was a student coming home from school it was hard to resist the spicy rice cakes sold by vendors on the street! They would have big vats of tteokbokki and just kept stirring and stirring it, making it more and more delicious over time. We would stop by and they would give us a small paper cup of spicy rice cakes dripping the spicy, slightly sweet sauce for a very reasonable price that any student could afford. We just couldn’t resist it! The sauce is fiery hot and a little sweet, and the rice cakes don’t have much taste but they are a little soft and a little gooey.
For a lot of my readers who’ve never had it before, it looks like pasta in tomato sauce, but it doesn’t taste like that at all.
When I lived in Korea I learned the secret to making good tteokbokki from a famous place in the local market. It was run by an old lady who could always be found stirring her pot of tteokbokki, and there were always people lined up to buy it.
She prepared it right in front of us, so I saw she first made an anchovy stock from dried anchovies. I made tteokbokki at home and found it made a huge difference in flavor. I once ran out of dried anchovies and made tteokbokki without it, and it didn’t taste at all like what I was expecting. So don’t forget to always make a good stock with dried anchovies when you make this! It totally makes this dish!
There are many variations of the Romanized English spellings of tteokbokki (떡볶이): ddeokbokki, dukbokki, tteok-bokki and on and on. A few years ago the Korean government tried to standardize the name as “topokki” and even asked me to change it everywhere on my website! It just sounded weird to me so I never did it. How do you pronounce it? The first two t’s are a hard t, and the eo sounds more like a u.
There are also many variations of the tteokbokki recipe too: some people add dumplings (mandu), some add cabbage, cheese (mozzarella cheese seems popular), or ramen noodles. Creamy, saucy rosé tteokbokki was popular for a while, and a few hundred years ago the Korean royal court enjoyed nonspicy, soy sauce based gungjung tteokbokki. This version below of the spicy Korean rice cakes is an authentic classic and my favorite. Everyone loves it, so let’s make tteokbokki!
Ingredients
- 1 pound of cylinder shaped rice cake (tteok), fresh or frozen, bought or homemade. (Use a little more if you’re not adding hard boiled eggs and fish cakes)
- 4 cups of water
- 7 large size dried anchovies, with heads and intestines removed
- 6 x 8 inch dried kelp
- ⅓ cup hot pepper paste (gochujang)
- 1 tablespoon Korean hot pepper flakes (gochugaru) aka “Korean chili flakes”
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 3 green onions (scallions), cut into 3 inch long pieces
- 2 hard boiled eggs, shelled (optional)
- ½ pound fish cakes (optional)
Directions
Cook time: 15mins for the anchovy broth and 10-15mins for tteokbokki
- Add the water, dried anchovies, and dried kelp to a shallow pot or pan.
- Boil for 15 minutes over medium high heat without the lid.
- Combine gochujang (hot pepper paste), gochugaru (hot pepper flakes), and sugar in a small bowl.
- Remove the anchovies and kelp from the pot and add the rice cake, the spicy mixture in the bowl, the green onion, and the optional fish cakes and hard boiled eggs. The stock will be about 2½ cups.
- When it starts to boil, stir gently with a wooden spoon. Let it simmer and keep stirring it until the rice cake turns soft and the sauce thickens and looks shiny. It should take about 10 to 15 minutes. If the rice cake is not soft enough in that time, add more water and continue stirring until it softens. Freshly made rice cakes will soften faster so if you use frozen rice cakes, thaw them out and soak them in cold water first, to soften them up before cooking with them.
- Remove from the heat and serve hot. If you have any leftovers, keep them in the fridge and reheat them when you want to eat. They won’t be as good as when you first made them, but not bad. You should finished them in a few days, but it’s best to eat them all at once right after you make them.
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I just made this dish tonight for my family and they loved it! My parents aren’t Korean and they’re pretty traditional but they ended up liking the dish so much that they even asked me to make more again already. The recipe was very easy to follow and I tried to be creative and added some spam in it too. I am so glad I found this site.. Can’t wait to try more of your recipes. Thank you so much!
Fantastic! You must be good at cooking! : )
can i ask you something what are the ingredients for the milder ddukbokkie? thanks!
Check out the recipe on this page please.
Hi Maangchi!! I tried this recipe the other day and it turned out wonderfully. The anchovy stock gives it such a richness that I love. And I love spicy food so I used a little bit more Gochujang lol. Definitely a new favorite of mine along with your Hoddeokk recipe ^_^ I can’t wait to buy one of your cook books and make more of your delicious goodies ^_^ Keep up the great work!
“The anchovy stock gives it such a richness that I love..” yes, you are right! I never make ddukbokkie without dried anchovies. : )
Hi Maangchi! I am going to try this recipe tomorrow, and I wondered if you soak your rice cake before using it? I bought the oval shaped sliced rice cake and I have heard that you need to soak it overnight to soften it up. Do you recommend this?
You don’t need to soak rice cake.
I was wondering how much 떡 you use in your recipe??
That’s a good question! When I filmed this video, I was not familiar with measuring ingredients. I used 2/3 of rice cake from the package. I should make another ddukbokkie video someday.
hi Maangchi what can I use as a substitute for fish cake which I can’t seem to find anywhere and trust me I have been looking for over 6months
You can skip it. You can add hard boiled eggs or mushrooms, too. I like simple style of ddukbokkie.
how can i make rice cakes??want the recipe pleasee… i/m in indonesia still can’t get the products
you can buy the Rice Cakes in Indonesia, at korean supermarket called Mugunghwa. if you are residing in Jakarta/ surabaya there are some branches there.
in surabaya thats not korean supermarket, it’s korean restaurant :(
@fey I usually make my own ”tteok rice cake whnevr i feel to make ddukbokkie, (cuz im living in a farm house. :\ far away frm da city TT^TT
use glutinous rice flour add bit of salt and water.. just do da same method like u making KLEPON ^^ only da shape is different. *-* store da rice cake in freezer.. let em frozen. selamat mencoba! ^__^
Can we use anchovy cube stock? Those instant ones that are sell in cube size.
is it alright to use frozen, sliced duk?? i have some in my freezer that i’d like to use up~^^ thank you very much!
yes, you can use sliced ddeok. https://www.maangchi.com/ingredients/sliced-rice-cake
hey there :)
i was wondering if you could use red hot pepper flakes instead of hot pepper paste?
Hot pepper paste is used for ddeokbokkie, but if it’s not available, give hot pepper flakes try. I would add a little bit of soy sauce.
Hi maangchi. I love your recipes. I’ve been trying out most of your recipes if I can because I live in malta and we don’t find all the ingredients needed. I’m going to buy your book ( 3rd). Does the 3rd book include the recipes from the 1st and 2nd book?? Thank you so much.
“Does the 3rd book include the recipes from the 1st and 2nd book?” no, please check this out. https://www.maangchi.com/cookbook
Thank you for your interest in my cookbooks!
why the recipe is different from the video? Should it be 2T paste or 4-6 T paste? Which direction should I follow? Thanks.
4-6 tbs is right if you use measuring cups and spoons. In the video, I used 2 big spoonfuls of hot pepper paste which is amount of 6-7 tbs.
Oh I never knew that anchovy stock make the rice cakes taste so yummy! I used some ham bits and diced carrots in. It’s really spicy though even when I’m a person who loves eating hot stuff. I would recommend for others to taste as they add tablespoon by tablespoon. Very very tasty! Thank you for this ^^
Hi Maangchi,
I’m French and I’m living near aix en Provence. I really love eating 떡볶이 but here, it’s very difficult to find tube shape rice cake. I only find sliced one and it’s impossible to find fresh rice cake. So I want to know if it’s possible to make my own fresh rice cake and if you have a recipe for rice cake.
Thanks for all the delicious food you show.
Anne-Claire.
Hi Maangchi thanks for the recipe i love this food but since the time i move to here i cannot find any korean store so i cannot find the rice cake! do u have any idea to make the rice cake? i really love rice cake but so upset cause cannot find it here! hope see ur reply! thanks! and have a great day!
aeriskitchen shows you how to make you the ddeok for this dish. her recipes are awesome!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MhvEouOKDU
Love this…made it a few times with fish cake….thanks Maangchi
Great! I usually don’t like to add fish cake in ddeokbokkie but these days I’m changing to like it because many of my readers love to make ddeokbokkie with fish cake. : )
As always your recipes look delicious. I can’t wait to try them out. Thank you!
Happy cooking!
simple and tasty snack … also spicy, i have to take it easy with the hot pepper paste … thanks
M!!!
Yes, I made it a few days ago here in Wellington, New Zealand for those who came to the meetup. We all loved it (especially me) : )
hey maangchi, what do you do with the anchovies once you’ve boiled them? do you just throw them away?
Sometimes I eat them and sometimes I throw them away. : ) Children usually don’t like wet anchovies.
Hi Maangchi, I just made my first ddukbokkie and wanted to tell everyone about it. I had some cabbage and soybean paste soup leftover and knew I needed to use it before it went bad. So I made a “Leftovers MacGuyver” version of it. I call myself the Leftovers MacGuyver because I can take little bits and pieces of things that need to be used and turn them into great dishes. This saves me a lot of money, teaches me a lot and gives me a thrill when it goes well.
Since many recipes for ddukbokkie call for cabbage I thought this would be perfect. I removed the cabbage pieces from the leftover soup and measure out the liquid, adding just a little water to give me 2 1/2 Cups. I put this in my skillet over medium heat. Then I added 2 Tbs hot pepper paste, 2 cloves minced garlic and 2 Tbs of mulyeot. The broth from the soup already had fish sauce (what I used instead of making anchovy broth), soy sauce and green chilies so I didn’t want any more salt or spice. Cooked this for 5 minutes, added 2 cups of sliced rice cake (what I had on hand), 4 sliced baby carrots, half a sliced onion. Cooked Until the rice cakes were soft. Then I had about 1 cup leftover sliced asian chives (from making pancakes the other night) and cooked until they were wilted. Finally I added the cabbage from the soup just to warm through. I topped all with 1 sliced scallion and black sesame seeds (all I had.) This turned out perfectly! This street food is the perfect one-dish meal! Sure is spicy for me but I can’t stop eating it! This was great with a cold cucumber salad – non-spicy, just with salt, pepper, a little sugar and apple cider vinegar. Helps cool the burn and gives some crunch.
i really love korean foods. but can you explain me something? is the hot pepper paste contains pork? because if it contains fork, that means i cant eat this.. TT_TT
which one of korean food that contains pork? kamsahamnida.. ^^
Gochujang (hot pepper paste) doesn’t have pork in it. It’s just a paste made from the flesh of a specific pepper then fermented.
AnnYeongHaseo.
I would like to use fried beef lungs, instead of beef strips. Is that okay. If it is possible how do i cook it?
Instead of sugar, I prefer using honey. It’s less fattening and the flavour is more unique :)
Also, I’m a student and I don’t have time to prepare the anchovies. So I use Japanese “hon-dashi”. It tastes just as good!!
awesome modification!
I made this, and it was FANTASTIC… now what to make next
yay yay! : )
Hii! I was wondering if red pepper paste is the same as the hot pepper paste in this recipe? Thank you
Yes it is.
hi! im just newbie hir! just wanted to ask you something! coz i want to make ddokbokki or toppoki! but i cant find any hot pepper paste here in our place! so can you help me! is their any alternative or substitute for hot pepper paste! tnx!!!!
There’s really nothing like it. It’s traditionally a mixture of ground chilies, ferment soy bean paste (depends on brand), glutenous rice flour, salt, and a sweetener (depends on brand) that’s been fermented for some time.
You could try soaking dried chili and creating a paste from those then adding the soy bean paste, salt (via fish sauce or soy sauce) and sugar or honey to your taste, but it wouldn’t be the same.
i would like to ask.. is it ok if in the mild ddukbokkie i could add up a little bit of the hot pepper paste? i want to cook this for my upcoming birthday.. need help..
Happy birthday in advance! Yes, check out the mild ddukbokkie in the recipe. Or use less hot pepper paste according to your taste.
thank you so much!!!!!!!
hi Maangchi
thanks for the recipe, I made ddukbokkie today and only put in 4 tbs of hot pepper paste but it was sooooo hot!!!!!! very tasty but extremely hot. What can i do to reduce the heat in the ddukbokkie?
Less paste and/or add sugar or honey. Gochujang has different levels of heat. You can buy less spicy paste.
hi^^
i really want to try this dish..but still confuse…
i want to know which one hot pepper paste you can recommended to me??
i want spicy and delicious^^ can you help me to find the clean without animal ingredient in there??
Is there any difference between fresher rice cakes (sold in the style you use in the video), and the kind that is sold at the store in air-tight packages? Do the air-tight packaged ones need to be soaked?
” Do the air-tight packaged ones need to be soaked?” yes, soak it in cold water before cooking. Cheers!
I made this recipe for b’fast this morning , my family very like it. Thanks for sharing.
I made this for dinner last night – it was so delicious and very filling! The recipe works perfectly. It was spicy but not too spicy (I didn’t add hot pepper flakes – just the paste) and sweet and chewy; a perfect mix of flavors and textures. I will definitely make this again.
thanks you~~~~~
but i wonder if there any way that i can make it little sweeter and less spicy?
thanks a lot i like
Hi maangchi, i bought all the ingrediants for this recipe but the rice cake i bought are the sliced ones not the long ones,will that work as well?
oh, no! What else can you do. Make ddeokbokkie with the sliced rice cake. The taste will be the same. If you have leftover, make rice cake soup with the sliced rice cake. Good luck! https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/ddukguk