Super easy tteokbokki (떡볶이)

Tteokbokki (떡볶이) or stir-fried rice cakes is a popular Korean food made from small-sized garaetteok (long, white, cylinder-shaped rice cakes) called tteokmyeon (떡면; “rice cake noodles”). It can be seasoned with either spicy gochujang (chili paste) or non-spicy ganjang (soy sauce)-based sauce.

This tteokbokki is the easiest and fastest Korean recipe I’ve ever found. I found it long time ago (really, probably like three or more years ago) and been following it ever since. Whenever I don’t know what to cook or just can’t be asked, I go for this.

Ingredients
150g rice cakes
1/2 tsp dashi powder* (I use Dashida Anchovy Soup Stock)
1 cup water*
1 tbsp gochujang (red chilli paste – 고추장)
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tbsp sugar
sesame seeds

*You can substitute dashi powder and water with one cup of homemade dashi stock. Or any other stock (or even just plain water – that’s what I did before I got the powder) in that matter.

If you wish to have this dish vegan, skip dashi and use either water or vegetable stock, it tastes just as great.

Optional ingredients I add depending on my mood
1 sheet (30g) of fish cake (eomuk – 어묵)
2 medium-sized shrimp
2 sticks of imitation crab meat
2 frankfurters
1 slice of cheese

Instructions
1. Defrost your rice cakes (if frozen).
2. Put water and dashi powder into a pot.
3. Add gochujang, soy sauce and sugar, and bring to boil.
4. Cut defrosted fish cakes into bite-size pieces.
5. Add rice cakes and fish cakes into the pot.
6. Cook for 3 minutes or until the sauce thickened up.
7. Put into a bowl and sprinkle some sesame seeds on top.
8. Enjoy your meal~!