In the Kitchen: Ddukbokki

Ddukbokki is a Korean snack dish made with rice cakes. I usually love eating these at Korean restaurants.. and I admit, I was craving the ddukbokki from Joon's so I thought I'd give it a shot!

Didn't turn out too bad!

While there are many variations on the sauce, this recipe makes the spicy-sweet kind!



Ddukbokki Recipe
o  1.5 cups of water
o  2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
o  1/4 cup gochujang (hot pepper paste)
o  4 tbsp sugar
o  8 oz. package of rice cakes (tube types, preferably)

Optional!

o  1 small onion

Optional Extra Add-Ins
o  1/2 Zucchini sliced very thinly

o  1/2 carrot sliced very thinly
(In this recipe, I used one whole zucchini and carrot one because I like my veggies!)

Optional Garnish:
o  1 egg, hard boiled
o  Scallions
o  Sesame seeds

**Note: If you prefer your food less spicy, you can use 2 tablespoons hot pepper paste and 2 table spoons of ketchup instead!!

Now to start the ddukbokki!

If your rice cakes have been in the freezer, start by soaking the rice cakes in some water. This will help the defrost AND rehydrate.

I used both the tube rice cakes and the flat oval ones because
I was cooking for a large group and didn't have enough tube ones!

Then, warm up a wide, shallow pot on the stove and add the water, garlic and hot pepper paste. Dissolve the hot pepper paste.

This is the brand of Gochujang sauce I used and
can be found in any Asian supermarket!

Let it dissolve completely!

BTW, I never let my sauce go above a simmer! When the gochujang has dissolved, add 4 tablespoons of sugar and let it dissolve completely as well

4 tablespoons of sugar, in you go!

Add any extra add-ins you would like!

Finally, add the rice cakes!

Rice cakes cook VERY quickly so only leave them in for about 7 minutes. They will also absorb any excess liquid so don't worry about thickening the sauce

Ta da!

One thing I would definitely change is the gochujang sauce. I bought the extra spicy one which turned out to be a little spicy.. I'll definitely be picking up a milder gochujang sauce for the next time I make this!