Korean Spicy Rice Cakes (Tteokbeoki) – Asian Recipes At Home (2024)

Make our easy Korean spicy rice cakes (tteokbeoki) recipe. Korean spicy rice cakes (tteokbeoki) is a very popular street food in Korea. This is the perfect spicy appetizer or snack.

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Korean Spicy Rice Cakes (Tteokbeoki) – Asian Recipes At Home (1)

Our family just loves this recipe. It is so easy to make. This recipe also has a lot of great elements, such as spiciness, chewy texture, and umami-rich sauce. Our recipe is made of rice cakes, fish cakes, gochujang, Dasida beef flavor soup stock, and a few other common ingredients that are probably in your pantry already.

How Korean rice cakes (tteok) were made a long time ago

Before rice cakes were made automatically in machines and readily packaged at grocery stores, my mom remembers taking soaked rice to the rice cake (tteok) processing house where they had machines to specifically make fresh rice cakes (tteok). Tteokbeoki was traditionally made with leftover pieces from the rice cakes used to make Korean Rice Cake Soup (tteokguk).

My mom remembers her dad preparing their rice to take to the rice cake-making shop. He would soak the rice overnight and rinse the rice well. Then the next day, mom remembers them taking the rice to a rice cake (tteok) processing house. The owners of the rice cake (tteok) house would usually help their customers with the rice cake-making process. Mom remembers seeing her freshly made rice cake come out of the machine, they would then cut the fresh rice cake (tteok) from the machine, let it drop in a bucket of cold water, and then finally package it up and take it home to cook in their recipes. How cool?! After making Korean Rice Cake Soup (tteokguk) from nicely sliced and fresh rice cake, they would cut up the leftover rice cake into pieces to make Korean Spicy Rice Cake (tteokbeoki).

Rice cakes made for tteokbeoki today are easily found in Asian markets in the frozen aisle ready for you to thaw and use. There are also many different sizes and shapes of rice cakes available today.

Korean Spicy Rice Cakes (Tteokbeoki) – Asian Recipes At Home (2)Korean Spicy Rice Cakes (Tteokbeoki) – Asian Recipes At Home (3)

Rice cakes are used in many different Korean recipes

There are many different Korean recipes that utilize rice cakes. Here are some other dishes that use rice cakes:

  1. Non-spicy rice cakes (tteokbeoki) made with soy sauce (check out our recipe here)
  2. Korean rice cake soup (tteokguk) (check out one of our recipes here)
  3. A lot of Koreans also like to put rice cakes into their ramen (we added it to our instant ramen hack recipe)

We hope you enjoy our Korean Spicy Rice Cakes (Tteokbeoki) recipe!

Need more spicy recipes to try?

  • Spicy Korean Cucumber Salad
  • Korean Spicy Poke Salad (Sallet) Side Dish (Muchim)
  • Spicy Korean Pork Belly and Squid Stir Fry
  • Korean Cold Noodles with Spicy Sweet and Sour Gochujang Sauce

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Korean Spicy Rice Cakes (Tteokbeoki) – Asian Recipes At Home (4)

Yield: 4 servings

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes

Make our easy Korean spicy rice cakes (tteokbeoki) recipe. Korean spicy rice cakes (tteokbeoki) is a very popular street food in Korea. This is the perfect spicy appetizer or snack.

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Rinse the rice cakes and drain well.
  2. Put a medium-sized pan onto medium-high heat. Add in olive oil and the rice cakes, stir well and cook until the rice cakes get soft (about 6-8 minutes). Add about a tablespoon of water at a time, so the rice cakes don’t burn to the bottom of the pan.
  3. Next, add the fish cake pieces and stir fry for another 2 minutes.
  4. Add the remaining ingredients to the frying pan and cook for another 2 minutes. Continue adding a tablespoon of water at a time to ensure nothing burns to the bottom of the pan.
  5. Sprinkle with sesame seeds (optional). Enjoy!

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Asiandeliciouseasyfish cakesKoreanKorean reciperice cakesspicy

Korean Spicy Rice Cakes (Tteokbeoki) – Asian Recipes At Home (2024)

FAQs

What is the spice used in tteokbokki made of? ›

The spicy tteokbokki sauce is usually made with a combination of gochujang (고추장, Korean red chili pepper paste) and gochugaru (고추가루, Korean red chili pepper flakes). Some people simply make this rice cake sauce with gochujang, and some only use gochugaru.

Why is my homemade tteokbokki not chewy? ›

Though all rice cakes taste like pounded rice (even the ones made with brown rice vary little in their taste), the specific shape dramatically affects the texture. Thin slices are significantly less chewy than large, cylindrical rice cakes that are genuinely toothsome in the degree of their chewiness.

Is Korean spicy rice cake healthy? ›

While it may not be the most exciting food, rice tteokbokki is actually quite healthy. One serving of rice cake contains 5 grams of fiber, which helps to keep your digestive tract running smoothly. It's also low in calories (about 100 calories per serving) so you don't feel bloated after eating it!

Do Korean rice cakes need to be soaked? ›

When it comes time to cook tteok, the biggest point of consideration is whether they need to be soaked and for how long. Both Maangchi and Kim agree that fresh rice cakes do not need to be soaked before using in recipes.

What is the English name for tteokbokki? ›

Tteok means rice cake and bokki stir-fried food. Combining these two words forms the term tteokbokki, or “stir-fried rice cake.” Ask Koreans what food makes them most nostalgic about their childhood and tteokbokki is the first thing they'll say.

Why does tteokbokki taste so good? ›

The stretchy cheese filled inside the rice cake adds extra chewiness to the overall rice cake and eases the spiciness. The fish cakes, boiled egg and cabbage added to the dish created a nice collaboration of different tastes and textures, it was really delicious!

Do Korean rice cakes need to be refrigerated? ›

A: Avoid direct sunlight and store in a cool place. You do not need to keep it in the refrigerator. However, after opening the inner package (individual wrapping paper), it should be stored in the refrigerator.

How to tell if Korean rice cakes are bad? ›

Examine your tteok with your senses of sight and smell. If you notice a sudden change in color or visible mold growth, or if the cakes have a strong, unpleasant odor, they have likely gone bad.

How to tell if tteokbokki is cooked? ›

Stir gently with a wooden spoon when it starts to boil. Let it simmer and keep stirring until the rice cake turns soft and the tteokbokki sauce thickens and looks shiny, which should take about 10 to 15 minutes. If the rice cake is not soft enough, add more water and continue stirring until it softens.

What are the cons of rice cakes? ›

Certain rice cakes, like those coated in chocolate, have a lower nutritional value. They can be high in fat, saturated fat, and sugar. Choosing a plain brown rice cake and topping it with fruit or nutritional nut butter can be healthier and more filling.

What is good to eat with tteokbokki? ›

Vegetables: Many variations include ingredients like sliced scallions, cabbage, and onions for added crunch and freshness. Boiled Eggs: Boiled eggs make a hearty, yet cost effective topping to add. Ramen: Ramen Noodles cook quickly and is great at picking up the spicy sweet sauce of tteokbokki.

Can diabetics eat Korean rice cakes? ›

Should people with diabetes eat rice cakes? Rice cakes are mostly quickly digesting carbs that will increase blood sugar levels, so on their own, they're not the best choice for people with diabetes.

What is tteokbokki sauce made of? ›

Make the sauce: Combine the gochujang, soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, hot water, and ramen seasoning in a bowl. Mix well, then set aside.

What does Bokki mean in Korean? ›

' tteok ' is the Korean word for rice cake and 'bokki' is the Korean word for something fried.

What is Korean spice made of? ›

Gochujang is a red chili paste that is spicy, sticky and slightly sweet. It's made of gochugaru (고추가루, Korean red chili peppers), yeotgireum (엿기름, barley malt), chapssal (찹쌀, sweet rice) or other grains, meju garu (메주가루, fermented soybean powder), and salt.

How spicy is gochujang? ›

The cool thing about gochujang is it's not spice-your-face-off spicy. It's more of a subtle spice because it's balanced with other flavors. Plus, you can control the spice level when you make your own! So even if you're typically averse to spicy food, give this one a try!

Is tteokbokki supposed to be spicy? ›

Tteokbokki 떡볶이

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 tteokbokkie and just keep stirring and stirring.

Why does tteokbokki taste like alcohol? ›

The scent of alcohol in such products come from culinary spirit. Trace amounts of culinary spirit were used to ensure that the rice cakes will be kept safe from contamination during the transit. However, culinary spirit is removed over the course of the cooking process, so it is safe for consumption.

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