Tteokbokki – Spicy Rice Cakes Recipe

Difficulty:

2/5

Serves:

3-6 PEOPLE

Prep Time:

8 minutes

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Tteokbokki – Spicy Rice Cakes Recipe (South Korea)

Tteokbokki recipe brings together chewy Korean rice cakes with fiery gochujang sauce, tender fish cakes, and sweet onions simmering in umami dashi broth, creating a dish that’s perfect for late-night street food cravings, K-drama marathons, or sharing plates at casual dinner parties. Featured on Global Street Eats, this recipe captures Seoul’s iconic pojangmacha tent magic with Devan Rajkumar’s authentic technique—balancing sweet-spicy heat with glossy sauce that clings to every rice cake cylinder, ready in minutes for addictive eating that demands chopsticks and cold beer.

The Inspiration

Tteokbokki exploded from Seoul street carts in the 1950s, transforming humble rice cakes (tteok) from temple food into modern Korea’s most addictive snack through gochujang’s explosive popularity. Pojangmacha tents serve it steaming hot alongside soju, with vendors perfecting glossy sauce ratios that cling to chewy cylinders while fish cakes add bouncy texture. Devan Rajkumar captures authentic tteokbokki technique on Global Street Eats, balancing gochujang fire with honey sweetness, dashi umami, and cornstarch gloss that rivals Sindang-dong’s best stalls. This isn’t just rice cakes—it’s engineered addiction where every component elevates the addictive chew.

Ingredients

400 g Korean rice cakes
200 g Korean fish cakes
2 cups (480ml) dashi (made with hondashi following package instructions)
1 small onion, thinly sliced
3 tbsp (44.4ml) gochujang Korean chili paste
1 ½ tbsp (22.2ml) honey
1 tbsp (14.8ml) soy sauce
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tsp (4.9ml) gochugaru Korean chili flakes
1 tsp (4.9ml) cornstarch
1 tsp (4.9ml) toasted sesame seeds
2 tsp (9.9ml) sesame oil
1 green onion, sliced thin
2 tbsp (29.6ml) neutral oil such as vegetable or canola oil

Methods

Place the rice cakes in a bowl of warm water and allow them to soak for 10 minutes.
Combine the gochujang, honey, soy sauce, garlic, and gochugaru in a small bowl and stir to combine.
Heat a wok over high heat. Add the oil and fish cakes and toss for 30 seconds. Transfer the fish cakes out of the wok and wipe out any excess oil.
Add the dashi and sauce to the wok, stir together and bring to a boil. Add the fried fish cakes, rice cakes, and onion and continue to boil for 8 minutes.
Stir together the cornstarch with 2 tbsp water in a small bowl until no lumps remain. Toss the cornstarch slurry into the wok and continue to cook, stirring, until the sauce has thickened, about 3 minutes.
Serve tteokbokki topped with toasted sesame seeds, sesame oil, and sliced green onion.

Serving Suggestions

Serve tteokbokki straight from sizzling wok into heated shallow bowls with metal chopsticks and ice-cold Hite beer or soju for authentic Seoul pojangmacha vibes, perfect for K-drama nights, winter street food parties, or sharing plates where glossy red sauce demands second rounds. Pair with kimbap, fish cakes on skewers, or tteok skewers for full street cart spread while sesame freshness cuts gochujang fire, creating addictive sweet-spicy cycle.

Elevate dinner parties by serving family-style from large cast iron skillet with communal chopsticks and cold sikhye rice punch, turning casual snack into dramatic centerpiece. Kids love chewy rice cakes, adults crave sauce-stained lips—25-minute crowd pleaser that captures Korean street food soul perfectly.

Final Thoughts

This Tteokbokki recipe captures Korean street food genius—simple rice cakes transformed by gochujang alchemy into glossy red addiction. Devan Rajkumar’s Global Street Eats version makes authentic Seoul technique accessible while preserving the high-heat magic that creates perfect chew-to-sauce ratio. The beauty lives in simplicity: proper rice cakes, real dashi, correct starch timing create dish impossible to imperfect. Whether feeding K-drama marathon crowds or introducing friends to proper tteokbokki, this recipe converts everyone instantly—lips red, bowls empty, soju flowing.

Find more recipes from Global Street Eats here!