() or simmered rice cake, is a Korean cuisine made from small-sized (long, white, cylinder-shaped rice cakes) called () or commonly ().[
]
Today, variations also include curry— tteokbokki, Sauce— tteokbokki, jajang-tteokbokki, seafood- tteokbokki, rose-tteokbokki, galbi-tteokbokki and so on. Tteokbokki is commonly purchased and eaten at (snack bars) as well as pojangmacha (street stalls). There are also dedicated restaurants for tteokbokki, referred to as jeukseok tteokbokki (impromptu tteokbokki). It is also a popular home dish, as the garae-tteok can be purchased in pre-packaged, semi-dehydrated form.
History
The first record of
tteokbokki appears in
Siŭijŏnsŏ, a 19th-century cookbook, where the dish was listed using the archaic spelling
steokbokgi ().
[
] According to the book,
tteokbokki was known by various names, including
tteokjjim (steamed rice cakes),
tteok-japchae (stir-fried rice cakes), and
tteok-jeongol (rice cakes hot pot). The royal court version was made from white
tteok (rice cakes),
sirloin steak, sesame oil, soy sauce,
, rock tripe,
, and toasted and ground sesame seeds. In contrast, the savory, soy sauce–based
tteokbokki was made in the head house of the Papyeong Yun clan, where high-quality soy sauce was brewed.
In this version, ingredients such as
short ribs were common. The name
tteokbokki also appears in the revised and enlarged edition of
, where it is described as a savory soy sauce–based dish.
The spicy variant of tteokbokki made with gochujang-based sauce is believed first appeared in 1953, when Ma Bok-rim participated in the opening of a Korean-Chinese restaurant. She accidentally dropped tteok, or rice cake, that was handed out during the opening into jajangmyeon. Realizing that it tasted good, she developed the idea of seasoning tteok in the Korean chili sauce, gochujang. After that, she began selling it in Sindang-dong, which now has since become the most common variant of tteokbokki.
Today, the typical tteokbokki purchased and eaten at (snack bars) and pojangmacha (street stalls) are red and spicy, while the soy sauce–based, non-spicy version is referred to as gungjung-tteokbokki (). Rice tteok rose in popularity as the South Korean economy developed, and various versions of the dish have proliferated since then. As it was once a working-class dish, wheat tteok was often substituted for rice tteok.
It is well known as Korea's representative street food, but these days, in the process of globalizing Korean food, luxury and diversification are taking place, and branding based on know-how in cooking is also taking place. More and more stores around the world are selling tteokbokki directly, such as selling Korean red pepper paste tteokbokki for the first time in an American football stadium at the home of the NFL's Houston Texans.
Tteokbokki was brought by restaurateurs to North Korea in 2017 and became a popular dish there. In 2024, North Korea banned the sale of tteokbokki, along with budae-jjigae, from sale in restaurants because the dishes are of South Korean origin.
Varieties
Like other popular Korean dishes,
tteokbokki has seen numerous variations and fusions. Boiled eggs and pan-fried
mandu (
) were traditionally added to
tteokbokki. Ingredients such as
seafood,
Galbi,
Ramyeon, and
Jjolmyeon are also common additions to the dish.
Variations based on added ingredients
Haemul-tteokbokki () features seafood as its secondary ingredient.
Galbi-tteokbokki () features short ribs as its secondary ingredient.
Rabokki ( and jjolmyeonbokki () are similar variants which add noodles to tteokbokki. Rabokki adds ramyeon (ramen) noodles, and jjolbokki adds chewy jjolmyeon wheat noodles.
Jeukseok-tteokbokki
Jeongol (hot pot)-type
tteokbokki is called
jeukseok-tteokbokki (), and is boiled on a table-top stove during the meal.
A variety of additions, such as vegetables,
mandu (dumplings), and
ramyeon or
udong noodles are available at
jeukseok-tteokbokki restaurants. As
jeukseok-tteokbokki is usually a meal rather than a snack, it is often paired with
bokkeum-bap (fried rice).
Variation based on sauce
Gochujang tteokbokki
Piquant, red gochujang-based
tteokbokki is one of Korea's most popular snacks. While both soup-style
gungmul-tteokbokki () and dry
gireum-tteokbokki () are commonly enjoyed, the former is considered the
de facto standard style. In
gungmul-tteokbokki, kelp-anchovy stock is often used to bring out the savory flavor.
Gochugaru (chili powder) is often added for additional heat and color, while
mullyeot (rice syrup) helps with sweetness and consistency.
Eomuk (fish cakes), boiled eggs, and diagonally sliced
are common additions to the dish. In
gireum-tteokbokki, the mixture of
gochugaru, soy sauce,
sugar or syrup, and
sesame oil often replaces
gochujang (chili paste). Soft
tteok sticks are seasoned with the sauce mixture, then stir-fried in cooking oil with a handful of chopped
and served.
Tongin Market in
Jongno,
Seoul is famous for its
gireum-tteokbokki.
There are also many variations in gochujang tteokbokki, such as a version that is seasoned with perilla leaf.
Gungjung tteokbokki
Sweet and savory, brown soy sauce–based
tteokbokki is often referred to as
gungjung-tteokbokki ().
Its history dates back to a royal court dish before the introduction of
chili pepper to the Korean peninsula in the mid-
Joseon era (17th and 18th centuries).
The earliest record of
gungjung tteokbokki is found in an 1800s cookbook called
Siuijeonseo.
Having a taste similar to
japchae (stir-fried glass noodles and vegetables), it was enjoyed by the royals as a
banchan and as a snack.
Although traditional
tteokbokki was made with soup soy sauce, which is the traditional (and at the time, the only) type of soy sauce in pre-modern Korea, sweeter regular soy sauce has taken its place in modern times. Other traditional ingredients such as
sirloin steak or short ribs, sesame oil, scallions, rock tripe,
, and toasted and ground sesame seeds are still commonly used in modern
gungjung-tteokbokki.
Other ingredients such as mung bean sprouts, carrots, onions, dried
Korean zucchini, garlic, and
shiitake mushrooms are also common. The dish is typically served with
egg garnish.
Other variations
Gungmul (soup)
tteokbokki are not based on either soy sauce or gochujang and have also gained in popularity. There are some well-known variations.
Curry tteokbokki uses a yellow Korean-style curry base.
Cream sauce tteokbokki uses a base inspired by carbonara. Cream sauce and bacon are used instead of gochujang and fish cakes.
Rose tteokbokki, named after rose pasta, is a variation. For this tteokbokki, cream sauce is added to the basic tteokbokki.
Mala tteokbokki is a fusion tteokbokki dish that uses a base inspired by Chinese malatang. This variation may include mala sauce, wide glass noodles, and bok choy in addition to traditional tteokbokki ingredients.
Tianmian sauce -tteokbokki features a sauce based on jajang (sweet bean paste).
Cheese tteokbokki is a variant in which the tteokbokki is either topped or stuffed with cheese. It is sold in snack bars and can also easily be made at home. Depending on personal preference, it can be eaten with seasonings such as green tea powder, herb powder, sesame, or parsley.
Outside of Korea, Shanghai cuisine chǎo niángāo (炒年糕) is a stir-fried dish made with tteok-like rice cakes sliced into flat oval shapes, scallions, beef, pork and cabbage.
Gireum and gyeran tteokbokki
Gireum tteokbokki () is a variety of
tteokbokki that is stir-fried in oil and served with little or no sauce.
Gyeran tteokbokki () is another variation that features no sauce. Only tteok (rice cakes), eggs, vegetables, and seasonings (primarily salt) are used. It differs from gireum tteokbokki in that it is not spicy.
Gallery
File:Korean.snacks-Tteokbokki-03.jpg| Tteokbokki at a (snack bar)
File:Ra-bokki.jpg| Rabokki ( tteokbokki with ramyeon noodles)
File:Noodle spicy ricecake.jpg| Jjolbokki ( tteokbokki with jjolmyeon noodles)
See also
External links
