What is Tteokbokki?

Korean food, in which rice cakes and other ingredients are fried or boiled for seasoning, has been ranked as the 10th favorite food by Koreans in a survey. It is arguably the most popular Korean food as it is often sold as street food and can be enjoyed by people of all ages, making it a true commoner's meal.

The name of the food is ' Tteokbokki ', but with the exception of traditional tteokbokki (soy sauce tteokbokki) and oil tteokbokki with a long history, most of the tteokbokki we eat is not 'roasted', but boiled with water or broth. However, it will be difficult for the name 'Tteokbokki', which has been established as a proper name, to disappear. In fact, tteokbokki is a dish prepared by boiling broth, which is also called soup, similar to stewed mackerel which is not called mackerel soup. When radish is added, the flavor is similar to stewed mackerel.

The most common method is red tteokbokki with gochujang, while others use condiments such as soy sauce, ketchup, curry, jajang, and cream sauce. Along with sundae (sausage), tempura, ramen and kimbap, it is one of Korea's representative national snacks and one of its representative street foods. For this reason, Koreans treat it as a snack, but in other countries, it is known more as a representative Korean food and for a meal than as a snack.

History

During the Joseon Dynasty , Tteokbokki was consumed as soy sauce, a dish made by mixing meat, vegetables and fried rice cakes in soy sauce, a delicacy exclusively reserved for the royal family. Its scarcity in the market is due to the high cost of auxiliary ingredients, although it is occasionally presented as homemade food, a complement to a school cafeteria or food for military service.

Regarding its origin, it is considered that Tteokbokki was developed from the cooking of steamed rice cakes. Although this dish existed during the Japanese colonial period, its evolution into modern Tteokbokki is due to factors such as wars. Modern Gochujang Tteokbokki , described below, has its roots in Sindang-dong in 1953 and is a culinary delight unique to South Korea.

In North Korea, there are various snacks and street foods on the market such as lamb skewers, rice cakes, corn noodles, tofu rice, pork rice bowl, fake meat, and rice dumplings. Although some restaurants also serve Tteokbokki, it is not very popular.

Gochujang Tteokbokki is said to have been first created by Ma Bok-rim, owner of a famous Tteokbokki restaurant in Sindang-dong. According to a media interview, rice cakes with a Chinese seasoning were served at a restaurant. Despite its good flavor, it was somewhat greasy, so it was considered adding a spicy seasoning. That's where the idea of ​​fried rice cake with Gochujang came from.

Korean Street Food Stalls Recipe

This is a recipe that evokes the flavors of my childhood. The secret lies in the moderate use of the ingredients.

Broth : You have the option of using water, but the subtle distinctive flavor of street food stalls is achieved with a fish cake soup.

Rice cake : Food stalls use starchy rice cakes that are not baked.

Vegetables : Chives are the default. Additionally, small amounts of onion and carrot are added.

Seasoning : Red chilli powder, Dasida and sugar (or starch syrup) are the only three ingredients. The proportion between Dashida and sugar is 1:1.

Recipe : Simply add the above ingredients to the broth and let it simmer. It's easy, right?

Ingredients also include rice, starch syrup, sausage, tomato sauce, hard-boiled egg, red pepper powder (fine or coarse), pepper, and oil.