Stir-Fried Tteok (Korean Rice Cake)

Tteok, rice cake in English, has many types, such as sirutteok made by steaming, jeolpyeon made by pounding, and hwajeon, which is pan-fried. The most well-known tteok, often simply referred to as tteok, is garaetteok, used in tteokbokki (spicy rice cake) and tteokguk (rice cake soup).

Ceramic bowl was wheel-thrown and glazed by me.

Another garaetteok dish I enjoy is this Stir-Fried Tteok. Made with sliced rice cakes—the same shape used for rice cake soup—for quick-fire cooking, this dish is loved for its precise balance of savoriness from soy sauce and sweetness from sugar.

INGREDIENTS

[serves 1 as an entrée]

one and a half cups of sliced rice cake

a three-quarter cup of shredded cabbage

five shishito peppers, sliced in halves

two green onions, diced

three ounces of seafood mushrooms

two tablespoons of soy sauce

two tablespoons of sugar

a quarter teaspoon of minced garlic

vegetable oil

If you are using fresh rice cakes, then you do not need to soak them in water. When using refrigerated rice cakes found at Korean grocery stores, soak them in warm water for thirty minutes before using. Heat a wok over high heat. Once heated, lightly coat the wok with vegetable oil. Add garlic and reduce heat to medium-high. Add shishito peppers and cabbage, and stir-fry for about two minutes. Add soy sauce and sugar. Continue to stir-fry until the soy sauce and sugar are fully combined.

Add rice cake, seafood mushrooms, and green onions. Continue to stir-fry for about two to four minutes, or until the rice cakes are cooked. Serve immediately to enjoy!

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More recipes:

Ojingeo Bokkeum, aka Korean Spicy Stir-Fried Squid

The Tomato Sauce

Bibim-Soba

French Miso Lamb

Samgyetang, aka Korean Ginseng Chicken Soup

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