Korean tteokbokki recipe.
Tteokbokki is one of the most popular Korean street foods in Korea. Among other things, today’s recipe is made with Korean rice cakes, Korean fish cakes, Korean soup stock / dashi stock and gochujang (Korean chili paste)!
It’s super delicious, umami rich and highly addictive! So much so that even if your tummy is full, you will still have some room for these spicy rice cakes! 😉
Tteokbokki / Ddeokbokki / Dukbokki (떡볶이) is definitely one of my favorite foods. It has all the elements to be liked. The texture, the sauce and the easiness! ❤️
Also, it comes in almost endless variations. As an example, I already shared three other tteokbokki recipes on my website. So here they are in case you need more choices!
- No fuss super easy tteokbokki – This version does not use Korean soup stock/dashi stock. It means two things. Less steps involved, so it’s easier & faster. But it may lack depth of flavor because it’s cooked with water instead of the soup stock. (It’s still delicious though!) So it’s a great recipe when you need a quick tteokbokki fix. Also, some people commented that they like this recipe, because the sauce is not too soupy. It’s cooked like rice cake stir fry. [Check out the recipe]
- Non-spicy tteokbokki / Soy sauce tteokbokki / Ganjang tteokbokki – If you don’t handle spicy food very well or at all, this might be a better option for you. It’s also a korean royal court cuisine. Intrigued? [Check out the recipe]
- Rabokki – Yes, this is a thing! Rabokki is the combined words of ramen/ramyun + tteokbokki. Instant noodles are an additional bonus for volume, flavor and texture! [Check out the recipe]
Now that general basis is covered, let’s talk more about today’s tteokbokki.
In my mind, today’s recipe is prepared in a more traditional way. When I say traditional, many Koreans make tteokbokki this way. Using Korean soup stock / dashi stock.
And, don’t worry. It’s very easy to make it as well. Here’s my guide to how to make Korean soup stock. This super versatile stock can be made ahead of time. It can also be frozen too. So after all, traditional tteokbokki is just as easy and quick to make! Also, note – you can make a soup stock with these pre-packaged ingredients too. Just boil with water.
One thing I really like about today’s recipe is that it’s saucy. I know some people don’t like this style but I do! So if you cooked other dishes (e.g. pan fried Korean dumplings or Korean style tempura) along with this tteokbokki, you can dip them into the sauce and eat them.
Wondering what’s the whole point of this? Well, nothing really. It’s just how Koreans like to eat Tteokbokki. With lots of pan fried / deep fried dishes! When these are mingled with tteokbokki sauce, they just taste even better!
Anyway, I hope you give this recipe a try and let me know how you go! Enjoy!
P.S. These are great companion dishes you can serve with tteokbokki. Korean fish cake soup and Deep fried seaweed rolls
P.P.S. If you need additional help, don’t forget to check out my video instruction above.
Ingredients for Tteokbokki (Serves 2)
Main
- 350g / 12 ounces Korean rice cakes, separated
- 150g / 5.3 ounces Korean fish cakes, rinsed over hot water & cut into bite size pieces
- 2 cups Korean soup stock (dried kelp and dried anchovy stock), use this recipe
- 60g / 2 ounces onion, thinly sliced
Tteokbokki sauce (Mix these in a bowl)
- 3 Tbsp gochujang (Korean chili paste)
- 1 1/2 Tbsp raw sugar
- 1 Tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- 1 tsp gochugaru (Korean chili flakes)
Garnish
- 1 tsp roasted sesame seeds
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1 stalk green onion, finely chopped
*1 Tbsp = 15 ml, 1 Cup = 250 ml
**If you want to learn more about Korean ingredients, check my 30 essential Korean ingredients list.
How to Make Tteokbokki
1. Unless your rice cakes are soft already, soak them in warm water for 10 mins.
2. Boil the soup stock in a shallow pot over medium high heat and dissolve the tteokbokki sauce by stirring it with a spatula. Once the seasoned stock is boiling, add the rice cakes, fish cakes and onion. Boil them a further 3 to 5 mins until the rice cakes are fully cooked. Then, to thicken the sauce and to deepen the flavor, simmer it over low heat for a further 2 to 4 mins.
3. Add the sesame oil, sesame seeds, and green onion then quickly stir. Serve warm.
How to Store Tteokbokki
Leftover tteokbokki can be refrigerated for a day or two. When reheating, add some spare soup stock or water. Though it won’t be as saucy as the first time.
Tteokbokki (Spicy Rice Cakes)
Ingredients
MAIN
- 350 g Korean rice cakes (12 ounces), separated
- 150 g Korean fish cakes (5.3 ounces), rinsed over hot water & cut into bite size pieces
- 2 cups Korean soup stock (dried kelp and dried anchovy stock)
- 60 g onion (2 ounces), thinly sliced
TTEOKBOKKI SAUCE (MIX THESE IN A BOWL)
GARNISH
- 1 tsp toasted sesame seeds
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1 stalk green onion , finely chopped
Instructions
- Unless your rice cakes are soft already, soak them in warm water for 10 mins.
- Boil the soup stock in a shallow pot over medium high heat and dissolve the tteokbokki sauce by stirring it with a spatula. Once the seasoned stock is boiling, add the rice cakes, fish cakes and onion. Boil them a further 3 to 5 mins until the rice cakes are fully cooked. Then, to thicken the sauce and to deepen the flavor, simmer it over low heat for a further 2 to 4 mins.
- Add the sesame oil, sesame seeds, and green onion then quickly stir. Serve warm.
Hi, can I use sliced rice cakes?
Yes, you can. It may cook faster than tteobokki rice cakes.
Can I use vegetable broth?
I haven’t done it myself, but I have seen other readers using it before. So good luck!
hii is there a way for me to make them not that spicy, some people in my family isn’t a big fan of really spicy food. Thank you!
To start with, you can reduce gochujang by 1 Tbsp and see how you go. If you want it less spicy, reduce gochujang even more or gochugaru in the second round. 🙂
Alternatively, you can make two different versions of tteokbokki. Here’s my non-spicy version tteokbokki. https://mykoreankitchen.com/gungjung-tteokbokki/
Enjoy!
Took me back to Korea. Soup stock was key as well as sesame oil/seed garnish. Added hard boiled egg. Will share this recipe with my sister who is usually the Korean cuisine chef of the household. But this recipe has her beat! Felt like I was sitting at a street cart in Korea. Recommend buying fresh dduk and freezing it until you are ready to make. Makes a huge difference. Thank you for a taste of home (Busan).
can i replace the gochujang with normal chilli paste?
I stumbled onto your website and am exited to try some of your recipes. Unfortunately I can no longer eat extremely spicy food but love this dish! Is there a way to make it only slightly spicy? Thank you
To start with, you can reduce gochujang by 1 Tbsp and see how you go. If you want it less spicy, reduce gochujang even more or gochugaru in the second round. 🙂
Hi! Can i use ssamjang as an alternative to gochujang?
Ssamjang is not a gochujang alternative, but if you’re curious about the taste, yes, you could try it. FYI, ssamjang is more pungent and slightly saltier than gochujang.
So, I am not a fan of seafood or seafood taste, is there another stock I could use in replacement for the soup stock?
You could try it with vegetable stock.
I was in Korea for a couple of months and this was my favourite go to street snack or whenever snack while I was there. Fast forward a year since Korea, I’d been craving these spicy chewy goodness, but buying them where I live is expensive. So I tried this recipe, and it doesn’t get more authentic than this! I’ve made them at least 4 times and my family loves it too! This is now my go to recipe whenever I crave a good tteokbokki. Thanks for the recipe Sue!
ps. I like to use green onions instead of red, as it gives it a little more crunch if you like that!
I’m so pleased to hear you’ve been enjoying my tteokbokki recipe! Thanks for your feedback! 🙂
Although I had never visited Korea before I have the urge to taste the food and one of my favorite food seen in movies is tteokbokki . And when I finally go I wish to eat as much as I could. We really don’t have those ingredients here so I just have to look the recipe up for future reference . Thank you very much for the recipe.
This recipe looks amazing! I ordered some Korean rice cakes online and they arrived but they are dry. I can’t read the packaging so I have no idea how to make them. Any idea how to use dry ones? Boil like pasta til soft? Or some other trick? Thanks!
I’d say, just follow this recipe without skipping any steps. All rice cakes are dry to some extent unless it’s freshly made (1-2 days old). It’s hard to assess your rice cakes without looking at them, but I think it’s normal.
I want to make this, but I only have the flat rice cakes. Would this work?
Yes, though it may cook faster.
Honestly the best Tteokbokki I’ve had! Even better than from the street carts in Seoul. Thank you!
aweee, thank you! I’m so pleased! 🙂
Amazing recipe! I made it minus all the onions and it came it perfectly. Thank you so much ❤️
Great to hear!
Made this today for my mom because I had tteokbokki I had bought but never used (and she was sick of looking at it in my freezer). She LOVED it. Rarely do I make something that she raves about, but this was one of them.
I, on the other hand, could only eat about 5 of them before my mouth gave out. It was way too spicy for my tastes, and I usually dig spice. To make it less spicy, would you recommend less chili paste, less chili flakes, or less of both? Flavor was great, it was just the spice level that was problematic.
To start off with, I would reduce gochujang (chili paste) to 2 Tbsp. See how you go with it first before reducing more or other things. 🙂
Ultra simple and tasty recipe. Easy as to follow. 💛💛
I just made this for lunch using your recipe and my hubby loved it ! Comparing to store-bought pre-packed sauce this recipe you have here is MUCH MORE flavorful.
Thanks! I’m pleased to hear that. 🙂
Hi,do u have a recipt how to make teokbokki rice cakes at home?
Thanks for your question. I don’t have the recipe yet, but it’s on my to do list!
hey I was wondering if you could make this without the chili paste
That’s one of the key ingredients in this recipe. How about you try this instead? https://mykoreankitchen.com/gungjung-tteokbokki/ This one doesn’t use the chili paste. Totally different taste though. 🙂
Recipe of home made teokbokki pls. 🙂🙂🙂
Very tasty. I didn’t have fish cakes so I substituted 150g of thicker cut cabbage for those. I also added some dumplings and a couple soft boiled eggs. I found the sauce a little too sweet so next time I’ll cut back to 1 tbsp sugar!
Hi!
Can you make 떡볶이 without fishcakes? What substitute would you need instead?
Yes, you can make it without fish cakes. Fish cakes in tteobokki sauce provides different taste profile to rice cakes. While there’s no perfect substitutes for Korean fish cakes, you could add cocktail Frankfurt sausages or imitation crab meat if you want something different added in your tteokbokki. 🙂
can i use ham or spam?
It’s really up to you. If you wish.
Hi,where can I get the Korean fish cake??
From Korean or Asian grocer.
Such a delicious meal making from scratch. Thank you for this and I will definitely refer to your page for more delicious dishes.
Thank you! Hope you enjoy my other recipes too. 🙂
Awesome dish!! Thank you!! Xx
I love this recipe and make it often since I bought most of the ingredients in bulk and it’s easy to make when I’m craving something spicy. I omit the fish cakes and substitute instant Hondashi for the stock and furikake as a topping since I don’t usually have plain sesame seeds on hand.
Delicious!
Great to hear you’ve been enjoying this recipe. Also, thanks for letting us know that it works well even with instant hondashi stock. I’m sure my other readers will appreciate it too. 🙂
I LOVE this recipe! I’ve made it several times already over the course of a few months. It’s easy and fast and the end product is as good as the korean restaurants around here.
Thank you for sharing!!
I’m so happy to hear that! Thanks for your feedback. 🙂
언니 레시피 따라서 맛있게 잘 먹었습니당~
맛있게 드셨다니 다행이네요!
Hey Sue! Instead of the Korean soup stock that you mentioned, would it be ok to use chicken stock as a substitute? If yes, do you know how much I should add in? Thanks! Am eager to try this recipe out hehe ^^
Hi Michelle,
I haven’t tried using chicken stock with this recipe, so I don’t know.
Korean soup stock is more of a subtle ingredient. So if you’re using chicken stock I’d dilute with water or something. Then again, I can’t guarantee the outcome. Good luck.
Hi Sue,
The fishcake recipes that you have share one is fried and the other boiled. Can we use any one of them to make Tteokbokki or we need to buy these sheets only?
TIA
Yes, you can use any of them. Just thinly sliced them. Boiled fish cakes have cleaner taste. 🙂
This is my first time making my own tteokbboki and it turned out pretty good. Think it is a tad soft for my taste but next time ill cook it just a tiny bit less. Thank you for the recipe because it was simple to follow and I am trying to broaden my palate and this was a good place to start!
Glad to hear you enjoyed it! 🙂
I love this stuff. My daughter who is on a mission for my church is now in South Korea after taking a year to teach herself Korean. She introduced me to this amazing dish at a Bon Chon Korean Restaurant. I really want to make something with the same spicy sauce but due to the fact that I live in the hinterlands of Oregon I have no access to anything Korean. I was wondering if I can make a hybrid dish using vegetable broth and sriracha sauce or other type of chili paste, then use rice, udon, or ramen noodles? Do you have any suggestions? I m going through Tteobokki withdrawal!
Cheers
Have you looked up the ingredients on Amazon? You can get some of the key ingredients from there. This is Korean chili paste from Amazon for instance. https://amzn.to/2YI5in7
Your tteokbokki recipe is amazing! I used Yamaki Katsuodashi stock (I know you said that that one might be strong, but it’s the only one I found at the Korean store) and it was delicious! Many thanks for sharing this!
I’m happy to hear that my recipe worked well even with katsuodashi stock. I’m sure your feedback will help other readers who want to use that method. Thank you!
Hi! I really want to try this recipe out, but do you know where I can get Korean fish cakes from? I live in New Zealand, and can find any
Made this simplified using just soy sauce, gachujang and sugar and it was delicious. Added fish cake and squid to make it perfect. Thank you so much
Glad to hear that! 🙂
How much is one cup in this recipe
1 cup holds 250ml water.
Hi SUE,
I’m happy to say that this recipe was a huge success and I’m so thankful for your blog! I can now try and make all the Korean dishes I’ve always dreamed to try. Also I’m proud to add that I made the fish cakes from scratch 😊 They were delicious
OMG!! I’m so proud of you, particularly for making the fish cakes from scratch! I’m so happy to hear that you enjoyed my recipes too! Thanks for your feedback. 🙂
Looking forward to trying this out! Can I also use Jananese Dashi (like Shimaya Bonito Dashi Stock) or would that change the flavor a lot?
Bonito has a quite strong flavor. I think that would change the flavor too much.
How many calories are in this dish? I have been eating a lot of this amazing dish lately but was wondering about the calories. Thank you
Hi Lori, That would be very subjective depending on the ingredients used. (As different brand of same ingredient could list different calories.) However, if you were to follow this recipe without any substitution that would be about 380 kcal. (Thought this is an estimate only, calculated by an online calorie counter.)
I made this with chicken broth and super firm tofu instead of fish cakes (I have celiac and can’t have the fish cakes, tofu seemed like a good substitution, plus protein!) I had to add a slurry of corn starch to thicken it up but it hit the spot and was yummy!
Great to hear your substitution worked out well with this recipe! 🙂
Thank you! Fellow Celiac and was trying to figure out what to substitute for the fish cake.
Great recipe! I always used instant tteokboki sauce from a local korean grocer, but now I created my own sauce with your recipe as basis 😊 I just adjusted the amount of gochujang to suit our spice level, hehe. Thanks a lot!
That’s so great to hear! Homemade sauce is the best! 🙂
Awesome recipe, I’ll sure try making it during this week! Thanks for sharing it!
Thank you! Hope you like it. 🙂