Tteokbokki 떡볶이

I was craving Tteokbokki and managed to get a pack of nicely sealed fishballs and Korean fish cake to go with it.  It was a challenge to find the Korean Chilli flakes.  I was told by the famous Korean supermarket chain that they only carry the ones from China which is not the fine type.  By luck, the next day, I found it in a smaller supermarket in Chinatown.  

Tada.... finally craving satisfied.

Learning: On the first attempt, we were worried that it would be too spicy.  On the 2nd we followed it to the T and were pleased with the result.  Girl finds it spicy though but to us, we find it just the way we last had it in Seoul.

Thanks for sharing such nice recipe, you never failed us.

Source

What you need:

500g rice cake (cylinder shaped)

4 cups of water

10 large size dried ikan bilis (remove heads and intestines)

6 x 8”  dried kelp

⅓ cup Gochujang

1 tbsp Korean chili flakes (fine type)

1 tbsp sugar

3 green onions (scallions), cut into 3” long pieces

10 quail eggs, hardboiled and shelled

10 fish balls

Korean fish cakes

Method:

Add the water, dried ikan bilis, and dried kelp to a shallow pot or pan.  Boil for 15 minutes over medium-high heat without the lid.

In a bowl, combine gochujang (hot pepper paste), chilli flakes), and sugar.  Mixed well.

Strain the broth (remove the anchovies and kelp) and add the rice cake, the chili paste mixture, the green onion, the fish balls, Korean fish cake, and hard-boiled quail eggs.  The stock will be about 2½ cups.

Stir gently with a wooden spoon when it starts to boil. Let it simmer and keep stirring until the rice cake turns soft and the tteokbokki sauce thickens and looks shiny (takes about 10 to 15 mins). 

If the rice cake is not soft enough, add more water and continue stirring until it softens.  (to thaw frozen rice cake in cold water)

Remove from the heat and serve hot. 

Note: For any leftovers, just keep them in the fridge and reheat them when you want to eat. You should finish it in a few days.

Enjoy!