So I love tteok-bokki. My love of tteokbokki started in new york. The samonim (pastors wife 🙂 was Korean, so the youngsters at the church were very familiar with Korean food. They introduced me to this shop in Flushing, where there’s this one ajumma (older aunty) who makes fresh tteok out of this small (miniscule) shopfront.
I have this enduring memory of eating that tteok in the winter, the steam from the bowl warming my face, the tteok perfectly chewy and coated with the sauce. The sauce was a perfect blend of spicy and sweet, with fish cakes (eomuk/odeng – I always called it odeng from japanese).
Since that time, I’ve searched for the perfect tteokbokki with the fervor of Indiana Jones searching for the Lost Ark. I’ve tried it time and again, most of which ended in failure, to groans from the boss. This weekend I hit the perfect recipe.
After many years of searching, I recognize the classic recipe is one-one-one-one, one cup anchovy broth, one tbsp each of gochujang, gochugaru, sugar and soy sauce. However, in my opinion that results in a broth that is too spicy and doesnt have the depth of flavor I was searching for. What follows is my proportion of the critical component, the sauce. As for the ingredients, feel free to add whatever. I’ve seen recipes calling for all kinds of veggies, classically cabbage to even broccoli.
Every recipe calls for anchovy broth. Frankly I’ve found that pretty much anything that adds depth of flavor is good. We stock this kombu dashi for our miso soup (we should post that recipe up as well). So we use that in this recipe as well, and it gets that same depth of flavor. I’ve been told by others you can use dashida or beef stock in a pinch. But, I think the kombu dashi adds just the right flavor.
One other Sambar family preference. Almost all the recipes call for the long cylindrical tteok. Mrs Sambar opined that this was way too “much”, and I agree with her on that. We found that using the sliced (coin shaped) tteok was better for us. Since I boil the sauce for like 8-10 minutes to reduce it, I’ve found that going straight from freezer to the broth means it hits optimal chewiness by the time the sauce is done.
OK enough with the preamble. Oh, btw, forgive the horrible picture. Unfortunately, we ate half the portion before I thought to take a picture. Will replace it next time we make it.
Recipe
Handful of tteok (adjust to what you need/prefer)
1-2 sheets of eomuk/odeng (2 sheets is a LOT for the sauce, but Mrs Sambar likes the eomuk more than the tteok, so we lean to more eomuk than tteok, adjust as per your family’s preference)
1 Green onion cut in fairly large slices
Sauce
- 1.5 cups of water
- 2.5g or 1 tsp of kombu dashi (half a stick)
- 3/4 tbsp gochujang
- 1 tsp gochugaru
- 3/4 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp sugar (we used raw sugar)
Method
Start the water boiling and add the dashi.
Add the rest of the sauce ingredients and break up the chunk of gochujang and bring to a boil.
Next, add in the tteok and boil until thickened a bit (about 8-10 minutes).
Add in the odeng and green onion, boil for a couple more minutes to let the odeng soften.
Serve it piping hot and scarf it down. Easy side dish!