Crunchy, delicious and addictive Korean rice cake skewers (Tteok Kkochi) recipe!
Do you like rice cakes? I love them. I particularly love the soft and chewy texture of them. Korean rice cakes are usually one of these types – sweet varieties or savory varieties.
Today I want to share my Korean rice cake skewers (Tteok Kkochi, 떡꼬치) recipe, which is made with savory kind of rice cakes. Who has tried this before?
Some Facts About Korean Rice Cake Skewers (Tteok Kkochi or Tteok Kochi)
- Korean rice cake skewers are one of the most popular Korean street food. You can see them a lot amongst street vendors in Korea.
- They are made with the same type of rice cakes that are also used in tteokbokki (Korean spicy rice cakes, 떡볶이). This rice cake is called garaetteok (가래떡).
- They are made by sticking through a few soft rice cakes into a skewer, pan grill it/or deep fry it then brush on the somewhat addictive, sweet, tangy and spicy sauce on both sides of the rice cakes.
- The outer texture is slightly crunch (like potato chips) and the inside is soft and chewy.
- Back in the day when I was in high school I used to pay about 500 won (about US 40 cents) for 1 skewer but nowadays (about 15 years later) it costs about 1000 won (about US 80 cents) in Korea. Do you think it’s cheap? or expensive now?
If you are like me (love Korean rice cakes), you will like this one. It was SO good to be able to make Tteok Kkochi at home this week as I haven’t had it for a while. It brought back some nostalgic moments of my life when I was in Korea.
Though for my toddler daughter, I made some special non-spicy savoury sauce and she loved it! My husband was trying to taste some of hers and she got all up set because it was “ALL HERS”. I thought that was adorable.
On a side note, my husband also preferred this non-spicy version as well. (He’s just not that into spicy food unless it’s Jeyuk Bokkeum (Korean spicy pork). I don’t understand his tastebuds. lol) So be sure to check out this sauce too!
I hope you enjoy making this at your home!
Ingredients for Tteok Kkochi (4 servings as a snack)
Main
- 32 pieces of Korean rice cakes (garaetteok, 가래떡)
- Some cooking oil (I used rice bran oil)
- 1 to 2 Tbsp crushed nuts of your choice to garnish (I used walnuts. Peanuts, almonds or even sesame seeds are also a popular choice.)
Spicy, sweet and sour sauce (Original style) – mix these in a bowl
- 1 and 1/2 Tbsp tomato sauce/ketchup
- 1 Tbsp Korean chilli paste (gochujang)
- 1 Tbsp honey
- 1/2 Tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp dark brown sugar
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1/4 tsp minced garlic
Savoury sweet sauce (Optional, Kids friendly style) – mix these in a bowl. This sauce is only enough for about 16 pieces of rice cakes.
- 1/2 Tbsp honey
- 2 tsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp sesame seeds
*1 Tbsp = 15ml
** If you want to learn more about Korean cooking ingredients, check my essential Korean cooking ingredients list!
How to Make Tteok Kkochi (Korean Rice Cake Skewers)
1. Blanch the rice cakes in hot boiling water for about 30 seconds to soften them. Drain the water and run cold tap water on the rice cakes. Drain and pat dry the rice cakes with some kitchen paper to avoid oil splash during cooking. (If your rice cakes are fresh and soft already, skip this step.)
2. (While boiling the water above) Heat the sauce in a separate sauce pan briefly (for 20 to 30 seconds) to dissolve the sugar and honey and thicken the sauce a bit. Constantly stir it to avoid burn.
3. Put the rice cakes on the skewers. (Number of rice cakes on the skewer will depend on the length of the skewer. But make sure that it will fit nicely in your frying pan.)
4. Add some cooking oil in a well heated pan and grill both sides of the rice cakes on medium high heat for about 1 min each. Take them out and brush the sauce on both sides of the rice cakes. (Alternatively you can dip the rice cakes into the sauce bowl if it’s deep enough.)
5. Garnish with your choice of crushed nuts and eat & slurp! 🙂
Note
- They can be eaten warm or at room temperature.
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Korean Rice Cake Skewers (Tteok Kkochi)
Ingredients
MAIN
- 32 pieces Korean rice cakes (garaetteok)
- Some cooking oil , I use rice bran oil
- 1 to 2 Tbsp crushed nuts of your choice to garnish (I used walnuts. Peanuts, almonds or even sesame seeds are also a popular choice.)
SPICY, SWEET AND SOUR SAUCE (ORIGINAL STYLE) – MIX THESE IN A BOWL
- 1 1/2 Tbsp tomato sauce (ketchup)
- 1 Tbsp Korean chilli paste (gochujang)
- 1 Tbsp honey
- 1/2 Tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp dark brown sugar
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1/4 tsp minced garlic
SAVOURY SWEET SAUCE (OPTIONAL, KIDS FRIENDLY STYLE) – MIX THESE IN A BOWL. THIS SAUCE IS ONLY ENOUGH FOR ABOUT 16 PIECES OF RICE CAKES.
- 1/2 Tbsp honey
- 2 tsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp toasted sesame seeds
Instructions
- Blanch the rice cakes in hot boiling water for about 30 seconds to soften them. Drain the water and run cold tap water on the rice cakes. Drain and pat dry the rice cakes with some kitchen paper to avoid oil splash during cooking. (If your rice cakes are fresh and soft already, skip this step.)
- (While boiling the water above) Heat the sauce in a separate sauce pan briefly (for 20 to 30 seconds) to dissolve the sugar and honey and thicken the sauce a bit. Constantly stir it to avoid burn.
- Put the rice cakes on the skewers. (Number of rice cakes on the skewer will depend on the length of the skewer. But make sure that it will fit nicely in your frying pan.)
- Add some cooking oil in a well heated pan and grill both sides of the rice cakes on medium high heat for about 1 min each. Take them out and brush the sauce on both sides of the rice cakes. (Alternatively you can dip the rice cakes into the sauce bowl if it’s deep enough.)
- Garnish with your choice of crushed nuts and eat & slurp!
Notes
Nutrition Info (per serving)
The nutrition information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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The sauce was amazing. My rice cakes were going bad so I needed to make a rice cake dish but I didn’t want stir fried rice cakes and this recipe is a great way to use rice cakes.The sauce was delicious and has a great kick of spice. I would only recommend topping some thinly sliced scallions onto the sauce.
love these!! had been looking for them in restaurants forever after i had them once and it was so difficult to find them afterwards. so so good! quick question (I do think my pan was probably too hot too, oh well. lesson learned): how do you get them to cook evenly on the skewers? when i did them i noticed some rice cakes getting really dark quickly while some others next to them on the stick look like they hadn’t cooked at all! I thought I had them all pretty evenly on the skewers, so unsure where I went wrong. Is there a certain color etc I should look for when they’re cooking?
Thank you!
It’s very weird if some rice cake skewers browned a lot faster than others in the same surface area. What pan did you use? I’m wondering if your pan has hot spots?
Thanks so much for this recipe! I read the Line Webtoon “Yumi’s Cells” and they’re always talking about tteokbokki and I’d always wondered what it might taste like. I know this is slightly different, but now I feel like I at least have some idea. 🙂
You can check my tteokbokki recipe from here. https://mykoreankitchen.com/tteokbokki-spicy-rice-cakes/ 🙂
Hi Sue, thanks for the great recipe. I was wondering if it’s possible to make this recipe without skewering the tteok since I don’t have skewers available at the moment. Do you think it would affect the texture in any way?
I don’t think it would affect the texture much, but it would be hard to coat with the sauce.
Thanks for the recipe! Delicious! I did make these without the skewers and they came out great! I made sure to cook the rice cakes on a wide cast iron pan so I could make sure all touched the hot surface and so I could flip each one. Once they were almost at the crispy point I wanted, I added the pre mixed sauce and mixed everything with the help of a silicone spatula.
I made this at home and it tasted just like the ones I had in Korea! So delicious!!
That’s great to hear!
I’ve bought gochujang and made tteokbokki before (long time ago), and although I thought it was fine, I never made it again.
When I saw this recipe, I somehow figured I needed to try, so I went out and bought another container of gochujang and a bag of tteok and made this recipe with crushed hazelnuts.
INSTANT ADDICTION!!! lol
(I’ve been making this 4 times a week as an evening snack and I can’t stop)
Thanks for the recipe! 🙂
Hi Tessa, So happy to hear that!! I know, these skewers are so addictive! I should make some soon too. 🙂
I came across this recipe searching for Korean appetizers and was wondering if this could be made in advance or is it preferable to make it as you are ready to eat. Thanks!
Hi, I wouldn’t recommend making these in advance. Rice cakes will get too hard to pleasantly chew through. 🙂
I am really enjoying your emails. I want to try so many things but sometimes, getting the ingredients is hard, even in Hawaii. Still, it is so fun to see the different recipes you are putting up here.
Thank you for your unselfish sharing…truly it will be a treasured legacy for your daughter. We should all do this type of journaling but it takes work. You’re doing a great job.
Thank you!
Thanks Diane for your kind words! 🙂 Even I can’t get all the Korean ingredients I want here in Australia! (It’s really annoying & sad at the same time.) Let me know when you start your legacy journal. I will check it out. ?
This is one of my favorite street foods!It looks so good. Does the outside get crispy by just cooking them in the pan?
Yes, it’s crispy outside! You can add slightly more oil and cook slightly longer than my recipe. Then it will be effectively “deep fried”. 🙂
Yum! When I first saw this recipe, I thought it was Tteokbokki (my favorite!!!). Can’t wait to try this!
I hope you like this! 🙂
thank you! very much