Tteokbokki is a staple of Korean street food made from rice cakes and a thick, deliciously complex red broth. Shoppers may have seen it in the Trader Joe’s frozen food aisle or even on Walmart’s website. But what exactly is this uniquely textured dish, and where did it come from?
Food Republic spoke to chef Maricel Gentile, author of Maricel’s Simply Asian Cookbook, to learn more about this iconic meal. “[The] modern version is credited to Ma Bok-rim, who, in the 1950s, took the original tteokbokki, which was soy sauce-based, and used gochujang instead. [She] created the version we know and love today.” The legend goes that the discovery of this magical combination was mostly an accident, when she dropped a rice cake into her father-in-law’s noodles with black bean sauce. Liking what she tasted, she began to experiment, and soon honed in on gochujang as the perfect sauce for her snack before opening Grandma Ma Bok-rim’s Tteokbokki. It’s the oldest establishment in a neighborhood built on this snack. “Sindang-dong Tteokbokki Town, in Seoul, is in the Jung-Gu district and is a must visit for anyone visiting Seoul [who] is a tteobokki fan,” says Gentile. “[It is] where it originated and where, in the 1970s and 1980s, it came to fame.”
How to make tteokbokki
While tteokbokki comes in several variations, the most popular version is surprisingly easy to make (if you can find the ingredients): Just add gochujang, sugar, soy sauce, garlic, and gochugaru — a fiery Korean chili flake — to a boiling pot of kelp and anchovy stock. Then, add Korean rice cakes and boil until they’re cooked before turning the heat to a low simmer until the sauce thickens. The result is a sweet, spicy, thick red sauce that perfectly complements the gelatinous rice cakes. From there, you can choose your toppings: Cheese, noodles, fried dumplings, boiled eggs, and Korean fish cakes are all popular additions, not to mention sesame oil, sesame seeds, green onions, and whatever else you want to add in.
This dish is a classic late-night meal in Korea, according to chef Gentile. “When I was just in Seoul it was one of those snacks you just have to have and share while you walk around [the night] markets and browse the shops,” she says. It’s also a perfect end to a night of drinking like a proper Korean or maybe even playing Korea’s trendy APT drinking game.
