Tteokbokki, Spicy Rice Cake

There are certain foods that refuse to age. They sit in memory exactly as they were first tasted, unbothered by time or distance. For me, tteokbokki is one of them.

Growing up in Daegu, South Korea, I ate it the way many schoolchildren did—standing at street stalls after class, the air thick with steam and red pepper paste, laughter rising louder than the traffic. We would gather around metal carts, and giggling between bites of chewy rice cakes lacquered in spice and ladled with amook broth. A skewer of amook, also known as odang, felt indulgent to a third grader. It still does.

This recipe is not strictly traditional. It is memory-driven. It includes what I loved most as a child: rice cakes, mini sausages, and amook—sweet heat, chew, and comfort in one pan.


INGREDIENTS
[serves three]
one pound of tteokbokki rice cakes
eight pieces of amook
six mini sausages
four shishito peppers
two green onions, diced
one tablespoon of gochujang
a half tablespoon of tamari
two tablespoons of brown sugar
a quarter cup of water, plus a quarter cup more, and up to an additional one-eighth cup if needed

Soak tteokbokki rice cakes for at least 3 hours if from a vacuum package. If using fresh rice cakes, do not soak.

Heat a wok over high heat. Add a quarter cup of water, gochujang, and brown sugar, and bring to a boil, stirring to combine.

Add the green onions, tamari, mini sausages, amook, and rice cakes. Stir for about three minutes. Add the remaining quarter cup of water. Reduce heat to medium-high and stir occasionally for three to five minutes. If needed, add up to an additional one-eighth cup of water to loosen the sauce.

Add the shishito peppers and cook, stirring occasionally, for another three to five minutes, until the sauce thickens and coats the rice cakes.

Plate and serve immediately.

_____
Cook with these recipes:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Are We Ready for the Truth? I’m Fat.

Image
I am fat. That is neither a confession nor a plea for reassurance. It is not coded self-loathing nor an invitation for affirmation. It is a description of my body. Yet the moment I say it aloud, people rush to correct me, as though I have misidentified myself. “You’re not fat,” they insist, with the urgency of someone extinguishing a small fire. The discomfort is not mine. It is theirs. Fat is not an identity. It is not a character assessment or a moral condition. It is a descriptor of a body. The body is a vessel that carries who we are; it is not the entirety of who we are. When I describe my body as fat, I am not reducing myself. I am describing the state of the vessel. Photo by Aziz Acharki on Unsplash We have constructed a culture in which self-acceptance is treated as a moral virtue—but only when it follows approved language. Love your body, we are told, but do not describe it in ways that unsettle others. Do not call yourself fat unless you meet some publicly agreed-upon thre...
Read more

At the Intersection of Law & Humanity: Immigrants

Image
Americans who believe in enforcement are not automatically endorsing cruelty. Americans who believe in compassion are not automatically rejecting the rule of law as it applies to all of us. Yet in our current climate, those positions are treated as mutually exclusive. Immigration, perhaps more than any other issue, has become the stage on which we rehearse our all-or-nothing instincts. Photo by frank mckenna on Unsplash I am Korean American. I carry my U.S. passport card with me everywhere I go. Some of you already know that. It has quietly become my default form of identification. I did not wait for a second inauguration to begin doing that. The election itself was enough. My parents waited years for lawful permanent residency before we immigrated to the United States. I became a citizen after I turned eighteen. I identify as Korean, a heritage I am immensely proud of. I am also a citizen of the United States. An American. It is simple. It is also complex. I believe a sove...
Read more

Single Gal’s Kimchi Risotto

Image
I love risotto, but I don’t think I’ve ever shared a perfectly delicious single-serving version here. If I have, I apologize in advance. This is simply the one I am making now. Risotto is comforting, especially after a challenging day, but it is also unapologetically high-maintenance. It wants to be eaten straight off the stove, demands attention while cooking, and rarely rewards reheating.  This is a risotto for nights when you are cooking for yourself, pouring a glass of wine, and calling it an evening. No scaling up. No containers waiting. Just a bowl, a spoon, and the pleasure of finishing the whole thing while it is still glossy and alive. This recipe is a small homage to my Korean heritage, borrowing its spirit from kimchi fried rice, and to my enduring affection for Italian food. It is deeply savory, gently funky, and indulgent without being spicy. Exactly enough for one. Girls want to have fun, after all, and no one wants to spend more than twenty minutes standing over a po...
Read more

Shrimp Stew

Image
Rustic and comforting, this tomato-based shrimp stew is gently spiced with fennel, allspice, and chili, balanced by a touch of sweetness and slow-simmered aromatics. It is the kind of dish that fills the kitchen with warmth and begs for a crusty baguette to soak up every last spoonful of sauce. INGREDIENTS [serves 3 to 4 as a main course] one pound of shrimp, peeled, deveined, and tails removed one fourteen-ounce canned tomatoes a half cup of finely chopped parsley two jalapeños, finely chopped one red onion, chopped one cup of water three garlic cloves, sliced two tablespoons of olive oil one teaspoon of granulated sugar a half teaspoon of fennel seeds a quarter to half teaspoon of chili powder a quarter teaspoon of ground allspice salt to taste Heat a Dutch oven over medium heat and add the olive oil. When the oil is warm, add the chopped red onion and cook until softened and translucent. Add the roughly chopped canned tomatoes with their juice. Stir in the sugar, a quarter teaspoon...
Read more

Don't Bend It Like The Beckhams

Image
I didn’t know the Beckhams had three sons and one daughter. I also didn’t know that their eldest is named Brooklyn Beckham, or that he is, depending on the bio you are reading, a photographer, a model, and a media personality. I was blissfully unaware of all of this until a family feud began surfacing on my Instagram feed, at which point I learned, somewhat against my will, that he is married to Nicola Peltz. Photo by Kristina Flour on Unsplash And who, exactly, is Nicola Peltz? I had to Google her to confirm that she does, in fact, have film credits. No shade, just verification. I don’t follow celebrities like scripture, but I follow enough to notice when someone’s cultural footprint expands suddenly. In this case, it seems undeniable that both Brooklyn and Nicola have garnered far more attention from their very public tension with Victoria Beckham and David Beckham than from their individual careers. This is not shocking. The Beckhams are among the most meticulously managed fami...
Read more