Recipe · Mains and snacks
Tteokbokki, chewy rice cakes in red sauce
떡볶이 tteokbokki: chewy rice cakes simmered in a glossy red sauce, sold from street carts all over Korea. Make it at home in 25 minutes.
Ingredients
Rice cakes
- 1 lb rice cakes for tteokbokki (garaetteok), the long cylinder kind
- 2 sheets fish cake (eomuk), cut into triangles (optional)
- 2 hard-boiled eggs, peeled
- 2 scallions, cut into 2-inch pieces
Sauce
- 2½ cups water or anchovy stock
- 2 tbsp gochujang
- 1 tbsp Taekyung gochugaru, fine
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1½ tbsp sugar
- 1 garlic clove, minced (optional)
Taekyung gochugaru, fine4.7 out of 5 stars, 2,464 ratings on Amazon
Buy Fine 1 lb on AmazonFine 1 lb: $12.90 on Amazon.com on Oct 30, 2026. All sizes, flake or fine
Method
Soak the rice cakes
If they're hard from the fridge or freezer, soak the rice cakes in warm water for 10 minutes. Soft ones can go straight in.
Make the sauce
Stir the gochujang, gochugaru, soy sauce, sugar and garlic into the water or stock in a wide pan. Bring it to a boil and let it bubble for 3 minutes.
Simmer
Add the rice cakes, fish cake and eggs. Simmer for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring often, until the rice cakes are soft and the sauce is thick and glossy.
Finish
Add the scallions and cook for 1 minute more. Eat it hot: the sauce thickens as it cools.
Milder or hotter
For a milder sauce, use half the gochugaru and a little more sugar. For a hotter one, add another tablespoon of gochugaru.
Make it a meal
Drop a block of instant ramen noodles in for the last 2 minutes, and it's rabokki.
New to gochugaru? Read the guide
Ready to cook?
This recipe uses the fine cut. You check out on Amazon.
Buy Fine 1 lb on AmazonFine 1 lb: $12.90 on Amazon.com on Oct 30, 2026.