Cuisine ; Tteokbokki (떡볶이)

Hello there! Now in this post I'd like to introduce to you a food that my family and I enjoy a lot. It is called tteokbokki (떡볶이; or also known as teokbokki, ddeokbokki, topokki, dukboki or simply tokpoki). It is a street Korean food which has gone worldwide. Tteokbokki is made out of soft rice cake boiled with korean sweet spicy red chili sauce. It tastes so delicious for my family and I that we often buy it so much. It tastes sweet and spicy at the same time and with various variation it has much more distinct taste. There are many variation of tteokbokki apart from the original one, there are cheese tteokbokki, ramen tteokbokki, noodle ttekbokki, and many more. We can also add many more ingredients to the mix to simply enhance the taste. The topping can also be altered to add the delicious taste. we can add vegetables, noddles, eggs, fried treats, fish cakes (reccomended),and so much more.
Tteokbokki originated back there in Korea, it was initially a royal food for the Korean royal family, the Joseon dynasty. But as time goes by globalization happens and this dish turned out to be very popular. Tteokbokki can also be found in medical records: a book called “신뇨찬요 (Shingnyo chanyo)” written by Jeon Sunui, a medical officer in the Joseon dynasty (1460). The purpose of the book was to cure people through food and tteokbokki was part of it. Nowadays we can find this dish in street vendor or high class restaurant.

Here is how you make 2-3 servings of this dish:

Ingredients:

1 pound tteokbokki tteok* (about 24 3-inch long rice cake pieces)

1 sheet of eomuk (fish cake – aka oden)

4 ounces cabbage

1 – 2 scallions

*You can find these types of rice cakes either fresh, refrigerated or frozen, (in order of preference for this dish), at Korean markets.

3 cups anchovy broth (or water)

3 tablespoons Korean red chili pepper paste(gochujang)

1 – 3 teaspoons Korean red chili pepper flakes (gochugaru) – optional for extra heat

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon corn syrup (or 1 more tablespoon sugar)

2 teaspoons minced garlic

1 teaspoon sesame oil

1 teaspoon sesame seeds (optional)

Make anchovy broth. Cut the fish cake, cabbage, and scallions into about 2-inch long pieces.

Add the anchovy broth (or water) to a large pan. Stir in the sauce ingredients, except the sesame oil and optional sesame seeds. Bring it to a boil over medium high heat, stirring to dissolve the red chili pepper paste (gochujang). 

Add the rice cakes. Boil until the rice cakes become very soft and the sauce is thickened, about 8 – 10 minutes. Stir frequently so the rice cakes don’t stick to the bottom of the pan.

Add the vegetables and fish cakes. Continue to boil, stirring constantly, for an additional 4 – 6 minutes. Taste the sauce, and adjust the seasoning if needed. Add the sesame oil and optional sesame seeds right before turning the heat off. Serve immediately.  

http://www.koreanbapsang.com/2012/03/tteokbokki-spicy-stir-fried-rice-cakes.html