Name: Spicy Rice Cakes
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 20 min
Yield: 2 servings
Cuisine: Korean
Ingredients: 2 cups (about 14 oz) Rice cakes (cylinder-shaped); 2 tablespoons Gochujang; 1 tablespoon Gochugaru (red pepper flakes); 1 tablespoon Soy sauce; 1 tablespoon Sugar; 2 stalks Green onion; 2 cups Anchovy stock or water

If you grew up near a Korean school, you know the tteokbokki stand. There was one outside mine that I can still smell when I think about it — a big flat pan with red sauce bubbling, the tteok puffed and glossy, a pile of fish cake skewers off to the side. You'd stand there eating out of a paper cup with a wooden skewer, late afternoon, school bag hanging off one shoulder.

I've introduced a lot of people to Korean food over the years, and tteokbokki is always a moment. My friend Camille — French, very serious about food in the way that French people are — tried it for the first time when I made it at my apartment in Seoul. She'd eaten street food all over Asia, considered herself unfazeable. Then she had her first bite of a properly chewy, saucy rice cake and went quiet in a way that I've learned to read as "this is better than I expected."

She had a lot of questions. What are the rice cakes made of? (Glutinous rice flour.) Why are they chewy like that? (Same reason.) Is the sauce always this spicy? (Adjust with more sugar and less gochujang if you need to.) Why does it taste like more than the sum of its parts?

That last one I couldn't fully answer. The gochujang brings fermented depth and heat. The sugar rounds it out. The anchovy stock adds an umami backbone that plain water doesn't have. Together they make a sauce that coats and clings — the recipe notes the tteok are done when "very soft and slightly puffed" — and the chew of the rice cake against that glossy sauce is just a texture combination that works.

Camille ate the whole pot. She also asked me to send the recipe before she left.

Ingredients

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2 cups (about 14 oz) Rice cakes (cylinder-shaped)

2 tablespoons Gochujang

1 tablespoon Gochugaru (red pepper flakes)(optional)

1 tablespoon Soy sauce

1 tablespoon Sugar

2 stalks Green onion

2 cups Anchovy stock or water

Instructions

If using frozen rice cakes, soak them in cold water for 10 minutes to thaw. If using fresh, they are ready to use.

Tip: Rice cakes (tteok) are the most important ingredient. Fresh ones have a chewier, better texture than frozen. Find them at Korean grocery stores in the refrigerated section.

In a wide pan or skillet, combine 2 cups of anchovy stock (or water) with 2 tablespoons gochujang, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, and 1 tablespoon sugar. Stir until the gochujang dissolves.

Tip: For a shortcut stock, simmer 2 cups water with 3–4 dried anchovies for 5 minutes, then remove. Or just use plain water — it still works.

Bring the sauce to a boil over medium-high heat. Add the rice cakes. Stir to coat everything in the sauce.

Cook for 8–10 minutes, stirring frequently, until the sauce thickens and the rice cakes become soft and tender. The sauce should cling to the rice cakes — if too thick, add a splash of water.

Tip: The rice cakes are done when they become very soft and slightly puffed. Under-cooked tteok will be hard and chewy in an unpleasant way.

Stir in the sliced green onion. Taste and adjust — add more sugar if too spicy, more gochujang if you want more heat. Serve immediately in bowls.

Spicy Rice Cakes

Tteokbokki

Prep: 5 minCook: 15 minTotal: 20 minServings: 2

Ingredients

2 cups (about 14 oz) Rice cakes (cylinder-shaped)
2 tablespoons Gochujang
1 tablespoon Gochugaru (red pepper flakes)(optional)
1 tablespoon Soy sauce
1 tablespoon Sugar
2 stalks Green onion
2 cups Anchovy stock or water

Instructions

If using frozen rice cakes, soak them in cold water for 10 minutes to thaw. If using fresh, they are ready to use.
In a wide pan or skillet, combine 2 cups of anchovy stock (or water) with 2 tablespoons gochujang, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, and 1 tablespoon sugar. Stir until the gochujang dissolves.
Bring the sauce to a boil over medium-high heat. Add the rice cakes. Stir to coat everything in the sauce.
Cook for 8–10 minutes, stirring frequently, until the sauce thickens and the rice cakes become soft and tender. The sauce should cling to the rice cakes — if too thick, add a splash of water.
Stir in the sliced green onion. Taste and adjust — add more sugar if too spicy, more gochujang if you want more heat. Serve immediately in bowls.