What’s in it: Tteok, extra firm tofu, olive oil, butter, shallots, garlic, ginger, gochujang, soy sauce, maple syrup, rice vinegar, kale, scallions, sesame seeds

Price: $

Review:

Tteok are Korean rice cakes. When cooked, they have a unique, chewy texture and a neutral white rice flavor that can take on the flavor of whatever sauce it is in. Tteokbokki is a spicy gochujang rice cake dish. This recipe by Justine Snacks is a non-traditional version of Tteokbokki using brown butter and replaces fish cakes with tofu and cabbage with kale. The tofu is easier to find than fish cakes and absorbs the brown butter flavor beautifully. I find the kale more flavorful than cabbage as well. It is slightly less spicy than more traditional recipes which makes it more tolerable for those who can’t handle as much spice (I like spicy food and the traditional tteokbokki I’ve tried was delicious but beyond my spice limit). The sauce turns out glossy and flavorful coating all the ingredients with the perfect balance of tangy, sweet, spicy, and garlicky flavors. The brown butter adds a depth to the dish with its delicious nutty, toasted flavor. This was the first dish I have made with rice cakes, so I didn’t know what to expect. This turns out so delicious every time! It is fun to eat with its interesting textures and packed with amazing flavor.

Tteok can be found frozen or refrigerated at specialty markets or groceries.  I found my tteok refrigerated at a local grocery that carries Asian goods.  If you are lucky, you may be able to find them fresh.  Gochujang is not always the easiest to find but many regular grocery stores carry it.

The dish is not at all challenging to make.  I start off by pressing my tofu and cutting/grating the vegetables, garlic, and ginger.  The recipe says to soak the tteok.  If you have fresh or frozen tteok, this could be enough.  My tteok is always very hard, so I boil it until it is tender.  I like to cook it until it is soft enough to bend the tteok without resistance.  This way it turns out tender with the perfect amount of chew.  I drain and rinse it with cold water to stop it from over cooking (I rinse them again later to unstick them before adding them to the pan).  Once the tteok is soaking or cooked, you pan fry the tofu in oil and butter on each side until it is golden and crisp.  It turns out gorgeous every time as long as you have the patience to let it cook to the perfect golden brown.  The butter browns on its own over time and coats the tofu.  The cooked tofu is set aside and the garlic, ginger, gochujang, soy sauce, maple syrup, and rice vinegar are combined to make the sauce.  I like doubling the sauce so that there is a generous amount to coat everything even after the sauce has been reduced.  Next, you cook the shallots in the pan which will be coated in the gorgeous brown butter as they cook.  Then, the rice cakes go into the pan to get coated in brown butter.  I like my rice cakes lightly crisped on the outside, so I kept the heat high enough to let them brown on the outside a bit before going to the next step.  I am considering adding the rice cakes before the shallots, so I can get them crispy without worrying about burning the shallots.  Once the rice cakes are coated in the butter (and slightly crisped if you wish) the sauce is added and reduced at a simmer until it is thickened.  Finally, the kale can be added and cooked until it wilts and then the tofu can be added.  Give everything a good stir to make sure it is all coated in sauce.  After this, the tteokbokki is ready to be plated and garnished with sesame seeds and scallions.  This recipe takes me about an hour to make.  I like to take my time getting the tofu extra crispy and the sauce luxuriously thick.  I recommend doing the same so you have the best tteokbokki possible!