Tteokbokki Recipe: How to Make Korean Spicy Rice Cakes

Tteokbokki (also spelled ddeokbokki or topokki) is a popular Korean street food featuring tender, chewy rice cakes tossed in a spicy sauce made with gochujang, a fermented chili paste, and dried gochugaru chili powder. It can include various add-ins, like slices of fish cake, fresh cabbage, hard-boiled eggs, and steamed dumplings.

Enjoy these spicy rice cakes as a snack, or serve them as a side dish or appetizer alongside your favorite Korean recipes.

In Korea, a few styles of tteokbokki predate the spicy version, which became popular in the 1950s thanks to a Seoul street vendor named Ma Bok-rim. Personalize your tteokbokki with additional ingredients, or swap the spice for the salty, savory notes of soy sauce.

1. 1. Ganjang tteokbokki: Ganjang (also spelled gungjung) tteokbokki is one of the oldest variations on the Korean dish, featuring a sweet and savory soy sauce-based glaze instead of red pepper paste.
2. 2. Tteokbokki with egg: Many homemade tteokbokki recipes include hard-boiled eggs for texture and a boost of protein. Add cooked, peeled eggs in the final moments of cooking to coat in sauce.
3. 3. Tteokbokki ramyun: “Rabokki,” a combination of the terms “ramyun” and “tteokbokki,” combines rice cakes with Korean instant ramen noodles (known as ramyun) for added texture and flavor.

Here’s what to know when making tteokbokki at home:

1. 1. Sourcing rice cakes: Korean rice cakes come in a variety of shapes and sizes. For tteokbokki, look for garae-tteok, long cylindrical ropes of rice cakes. Thaw the frozen rice cakes in cold water and drain well before using.
2. 2. Making anchovy stock: Tteokbokki sauce gains much of its deep umami flavor from anchovy broth, Korean food’s answer to Japanese dashi. While you can make tteokbokki without myeolchi yuksu (anchovy stock), it adds umami to the dish. You can find dried anchovies (sometimes mislabeled as dried sardines) and dried kelp—or pre-seasoned dashi packets—in Asian grocery stores.
3. 3. Reheating tteokbokki: To reheat, place your leftover tteokbokki in a medium saucepan. Add a few tablespoons of water or stock per serving. Separate the individual rice cakes as much as possible and warm them over medium-low heat for five minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning as needed.