Spicy stir-fried fish cakes

Eomuk-bokkeum 어묵볶음

Today I’m going to show you how to make one of the most popular Korean lunchbox side dishes: spicy stirfried fish cakes, or eomuk-bokkeum in Korean. It’s sweet, spicy, chewy, and salty, which means it goes perfectly with rice: the blandness of the rice offsets the bolder flavors of eomuk-bokkeum, and the spicy fish cakes add life to white rice.

All Korean kids love this dish. When my children were young, they loved it when I put it in their dosirak. They never got tired of eomuk-bokkeum!

You can make this recipe with fish cakes bought from the store, or from fish cakes you make at home, either way will be delicious. And for a nonspicy version, skip the spicy stuff – hot pepper paste and green chili peppers – and add 1 tablespoon soy sauce.

Let me know if you make this dish, especially if you make it with your homemade fish cakes. I want to hear how it turns out!

Ingredients

½ pound fish cakes (fish cakes store-bought or homemade), sliced into thin pieces
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 to 3 tablespoons hot pepper paste
1 tablespoon rice syrup, corn syrup, or sugar
2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds
½ medium onion (¼ cup), sliced thinly
¼ cup worth carrot, sliced thinly
1 garlic clove, minced
1 green chili pepper, chopped
1 green onion, chopped

Directions

Heat up a frying pan over medium high heat. Add 2 teaspoons vegetable oil and the sliced fish cakes. Stir them with a wooden spoon for a few minutes until light golden brown.
Add onion, carrot, garlic, and green chili pepper, and keep stirring for a few minutes until the onion looks a little translucent.
Turn the heat down to low. Push the fishcakes and vegetables to the edge of the pan with a wooden spoon to clear out a spot in the middle of the pan.
Add 1 teaspoon vegetable oil, hot pepper paste, and rice syrup to the center of the pan. Mix well for a few seconds, and then mix in the fishcakes and the vegetables from the edges of the pan.
Remove it from the heat. Add green onion, toasted sesame oil, and sprinkle some sesame seeds over top.
Serve with rice.

Posted on Wednesday, April 1st, 2009 at 9:50 am. Last updated on October 5, 2014.
Tagged: fishcake, 어묵, korean food, Korean recipes, side dish, stirfried fishcake, uhmookbokkeum

82 Comments:

echacha Toronto, Canada joined 4/20 & has 5 comments
Posted June 11th, 2020 at 10:05 am | Log in to reply.

Most of the time when I go to Korean Restaurent. This is so popular side but in non-spicy version. I am glad that you mentioned the non-spicy version on video. I could enjoy this side at home. I will buy your cook soon. Thank you Maangchi.

See full size image
kksoemaung Canada joined 1/19 & has 1 comment
Posted January 3rd, 2019 at 1:48 am | Log in to reply.

Hi Maangchi,
I love your recipes and I am so glad to find your website.I have started collecting Korean Dried Ingredients to have everything ready when I start cooking your recipes.One thing I want to ask you is , do you use Circulon Pots and Pans? If yes, how do you clean the inner bottom of them? Since they have concentric circles at the bottom of the pots and pans, mine always has food stuck in them even after washing them with a brush.You could not see them after washing when it is wet,but when the pot gets dry, you can see the dried food in the concentric circles .I even tried putting one third cup vinegar and one cup water into the pot again and boil for a few minutes, but the dried stuff did not go away.Any suggestions?They are very good quality pots and pans.I don’t even know what to do.Help me.
TaraMaiden Nottinghamshire, England joined 12/16 & has 26 comments
Posted April 21st, 2018 at 6:04 am | Log in to reply.

Ooooh! I am SO HAPPY!! Today I received my chilli paste – I can cook lots of wonderful things now! Maangchi, I am going to buy the fish next, and make the fish cakes! I love them, and I have bought them in shops, but I think I would prefer to know what goes into them, and prepare them myself!
I will report back!
g.sparkes London joined 6/17 & has 2 comments
Posted July 21st, 2017 at 6:58 pm | Log in to reply.

Hi Maangchi!

I decided to make this today but I didn’t have time to make fish cakes, and I couldn’t find any to buy that I liked the look of…so instead I thought I would replace the fish cakes with pork belly! It turned out very well, and I can’t wait to try it with other replacements! Thanks for the recipe!

See full size image
makionyx Missouri joined 5/17 & has 3 comments
Posted May 13th, 2017 at 4:00 pm | Log in to reply.

I love this side dish. I had it in a Korean restaurant and fell in love with the sweet and spicy (but not burning or hot) flavor. I have bought fishcake from the market in a few variations and tried making this. When I use this type of sheet thin fishcake, cut up, it comes out alright, but never as good as when I had it in the restaurant. I tried other fishcakes as well and they tasted unpleasant (but they were so cute shaped like little crabs). I haven’t made my own fishcakes due to never having the time, but maybe in the preparation of making your own, you can change the flavor of the cake its self to add to the dish.
John in Baton Rouge Baton Rouge Louisiana joined 12/16 & has 40 comments
Posted January 7th, 2017 at 7:42 pm | Log in to reply.

This is so delicious. I love this recipe. I made this today for the 2nd time. I love the sweetness and spiciness and you are so right when you say it goes perfectly with rice. I add some fish sauce to make it salty to my own taste – and mirin because I like it to be a little juicier…Anaheim peppers (mild green chillis) are perfect in this.
Dangokon Singapore joined 1/16 & has 1 comment
Posted January 29th, 2016 at 6:15 am | Log in to reply.

Hi maangchi, may i request a recipe for a non spicy 어묵볶음? It is my favourite dish XD

More comments to read! Jump to page: < Previous 1 2 3 4

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Spicy stir-fried fish cakes
Korean name: 어묵볶음
Romanized: Eomuk-bokkeum
Also Romanized as: uhmook bokkum, uhmookbokkeum, uhmook-bokkeum
Other Korean name(s): 오뎅볶음 (odeng-bokkeum)

Categories: appetizer, easy, lunchbox, preserved side dish, seafood, side dish, spicy
Made with: carrot, corn syrup, fish cakes, garlic, green chili pepper, green onion, hot pepper paste, onion, rice syrup, sesame oil, sesame seeds, vegetable oil, white sugar,