Tteokbokki (Korean Rice Cakes) Recipe (2024)

Recipes by World Cuisine
Asian
East Asian
Korean

Tteokbokki are irresistibly chewy rice cakes, glazed with a sweet-spicy sauce.

Chichi Wang

Chichi Wang wrote a variety of columns for Serious Eats including The Butcher's Cuts, in addition to other stories. Born in Shanghai and raised in New Mexico, Chichi took her degree in philosophy but decided that writing about food would be more fun than writing about Plato.

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Updated February 21, 2024

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Why It Works

Glutinous rice cakes are chewy and slightly bouncy. Glazed with a combination of chile paste, sugar, soy sauce, and vinegar, they take on a ton of flavor.
The rice cakes can be pan-fried or broiled for a crispy exterior and soft, gooey interior.

If you go into any Korean supermarket, you'll find several staples sold in an overwhelming array: kimchi, anchovies, pickled garlic, and a variety of rice cakes that are not available at Chinese or Japanese stores. At a Chinese store, on the other hand, you might find a few packages of pre-sliced rice cakes (nian gao, in Chinese) for use in stir-fry dishes, but even a small Korean supermarket will carry an impressive range of rice cakes (tteok, in Korean).

What is a rice cake?Glutinous rice is pounded to a gluey, sticky mass, which is then formed into a variety of different shapes and sizes. Shape-wise, there are chubby and skinny, tall and short, round and oblong. Color-wise, they can be pale (made with white glutinous flour) or tan (made with brown rice). You'll find freshly cooked rice cakes, most frequently in cylindrical form, sold at some stores, though all Korean markets will carry refrigerated, pre-packaged rice cakes that must be boiled before use.

Tteokbokki (Korean Rice Cakes) Recipe (3)

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.

Tteokbokki (Korean Rice Cakes) Recipe (4)

Here is one instance where there's truly no "better" shape—each is well-suited to its purpose. A thin rice cake quickly soaks in flavor and is good for a stir-fried dish with slices of meat or vegetables. A thicker, rounder rice cake can be toasted in a cast iron pan or even charred over a grill, and still stays pleasantly chewy and soft in the center.

In Korean cooking, rice cakes are a mainstay of kimchi stews, for which almost any shape and size of rice cake will flourish.Sliced rice cakes need significantly less time to cook than the more thickly shaped sticks,but those chubby cylinders of pounded rice, you should know, char wonderfully when lined at the bottom of a clay pot.

Asking the question,what should I cook along with the rice cake?may half-miss the point—it's like asking an Italian what garnishes should accompany a freshly made plate of pasta. The pasta, valued for its specific textural qualities, is the primary draw of the dish, just like the rice cake is the main attraction. (This is not to say, of course, that a rice cake wouldn't make a superb filler for just about any stew you're contemplating.)

Koreans relish the chewy texture of the rice cake with very little garnish and side ingredients.The classic preparation oftteokbokkiis to boil the cylindrically shaped cakes andeat them coated in a red sauce of chile paste, fermented bean paste, soy sauce, and sugar, topped liberally with sesame seeds.You can follow the traditional route and boil your rice cakes in water or you can pan-fry them with a little bit of oil in a skillet. Or, char the cakes under the broiler until the surface is crackly and the inside is gooey and warm. The bibim sauce—a tasty balance of sweet, savory, and spicy—is a wonderful dressing for the chewy cakes.

Of course, once you're hooked on the texture, you'll find all kinds of ways to incorporate the cakes into your diet. In the mornings I've been known to dip broiled rice cakes in a mixture of peanut and honey with my coffee; in the evenings, I might fry one or two in bacon fat or olive oil to accompany my meat and vegetables.

November 2010

Recipe Details

Tteokbokki (Korean Rice Cakes)

Prep5 mins

Cook25 mins

Active10 to 20 mins

Total30 mins

Serves4 servings

Ingredients

6 to 8 fresh long rice cake sticks, or 20 smaller rice cake sticks
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

For the Sauce:

3 tablespoons Korean chile pepper paste (gochujang)
3 to 4 tablespoons light soy sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon rice vinegar
Roasted sesame seeds, to garnish

Directions

If using fresh rice cake sticks, proceed with step 2. If using refrigerated rice cake sticks, boil according to instructions on package, about 5 to 10 minutes, until soft.
Heat cast iron skillet over high heat. Add vegetable oil and pan-fry rice cake sticks for 3 to 4 minutes per side, until lightly brown. Alternatively, toss rice cake sticks with oil in a medium bowl and broil for 3 minutes.
Mix ingredients for sauce together. In a mixing bowl, coat browned rice cake sticks in sauce and top with sesame seeds. Serve hot or at room temperature.

Special Equipment

Cast iron skillet

Notes

If you have extra rice cakes, you can freeze them. The smaller, thinner varieties can be tossed directly into the soup pot from the freezer, making them a quick addition to your late night kimchi soups.

Korean

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
262	Calories
8g	Fat
43g	Carbs
5g	Protein

Show Full Nutrition Label

Nutrition Facts
Servings: 4
Amount per serving
Calories	262
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 8g	11%
Saturated Fat 1g	4%
Cholesterol 0mg	0%
Sodium 1610mg	70%
Total Carbohydrate 43g	15%
Dietary Fiber 2g	7%
Total Sugars 9g
Protein 5g
Vitamin C 2mg	11%
Calcium 18mg	1%
Iron 1mg	5%
Potassium 176mg	4%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.

(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

Tteokbokki (Korean Rice Cakes) Recipe (2024)

FAQs

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.

View Details ›

What is a tteokbokki made of? ›

Tteokbokki is a very well known street food in Korea that is especially popular with students. The traditional version is made with rice cakes, fish cake, and sometimes hard boiled eggs, all cooked and drenched in a delicious spicy sauce that can be slightly sweet.

Keep Reading ›

How to know 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 two types of tteokbokki? ›

There are some well-known variations. Curry tteok-bokki uses a yellow Korean-style curry base. Cream sauce tteok-bokki uses a base inspired by carbonara. Cream sauce and bacon are used instead of gochujang and fish cakes.

Learn More Now ›

What makes rice cakes taste better? ›

How to Make It. Top rice cakes with low-fat ricotta, goat or cottage cheese, fresh sliced peaches and a drizzle of balsamic OR honey.

Read The Full Story ›

Is tteokbokki supposed to be very chewy? ›

“When cooked correctly, it's soft, pillowy, chewy, starchy,” Kim said. “Very fun to chew.” Tteok come in a variety of shapes and sizes and can be composed of different ingredients.

Get More Info Here ›

Why is my tteokbokki so soft? ›

If you add too much water, the rice cakes may turn out soft and sticky. Boil a large pot of water on the stovetop. Roll rice cakes out and pop into the pot.

Tell Me More ›

How do you keep rice cakes chewy? ›

Put your rice cakes in an airtight container if they're homemade or the package is opened. Using an airtight container helps preserve the rice cakes so they'll be fresher longer. You can also individually package your rice cakes using plastic wrap for easier storage.

See Details ›

Why is my rice a little chewy? ›

If you bite into the rice and the grains are just a tad chewy and not too moist, your rice is almost there! It's past al dente at this stage, so bypass further cooking on the stovetop or in the microwave and try this gentler remedy instead: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spread the rice evenly in a glass baking dish.