Korean Tteokbokki with Peppers
This Korean Tteokbokki is enriched with sweet, fragrant Peppers to mellow down the heat while still delivering its authentic, spicy and warm taste.
Questa ricetta è disponibile anche in italiano
If you haven't tried this national dish from Korea, I'm sure you'll be amazed by its awesome taste.
The main ingredient of it are rice cakes, Garaetteok 가래떡, chewy and soft logs of rice flour and water coated in a rich and rather spicy gochujang based sauce.
The name Tteok-bokki (떡볶이) actually means stir-fried rice cake, and nowadays there are so many variations and the dish is well known and loved worldwide.
In my version we are going to serve these gorgeous cylinder-shaped rice cakes with a sweet and spicy pepper sauce, and stir fried bell peppers and spring onions (also known as scallions).
Please note. If you find hard to get rice cakes, you can follow the recipe for these mushroom-shaped potato dumplings as a base for tteokbokki, and you can even give the noodles whatever shape you like!
These Korean rice cakes are largely available in Asian shops or online. They come in a fresh and dry form, and sometimes they can also be found frozen.
They are so easy and straightforward to use; you can pop fresh ones straight away in your dishes, while dry ones need to be soaked in hot broth most of the time. I highly recommend to stick with the package instructions for best results.
If you can't find Garaetteok or want to attempt making your own, you can follow the steps of this talented cook Maangchi, that has made a very instructive videos about these gorgeous rice cakes here.
What we need to make Tteokbokki spicy sauce:
Next we are going to make the sauce, which features a bunch of specific ingredients that we can easily substitute with what we have available:
- Gochujang paste (Korean Chilli Paste). It is a savory, sweet, and spicy fermented sauce made from chili powder, glutinous rice, meju powder, yeotgireum and salt. You can easily make your own (there are plenty of recipes online) or buy it from Asian shops or online. This is a key ingredient and cannot unfortunately be substitute.
- Gochugaru; Korean chilli flakes. They can be substitute with any type of chili flakes you have in the pantry or omitted, if you don't want the dish to be extra hot.
- Corn Syrup; essential to cut down the heat and to give a nice sweetness to the sauce and the final dish. It can be substitute with any other syryp (I use golden syrup when I don't have it), or with extra brown sugar, or any other sugar of your choice.
- Brown Sugar; as previously stated for the sweetness of the sauce. You can use granulated white sugar instead.
- Fresh Garlic; 2-3 cloves finely minced or grated, according to your taste.
- Soy Sauce; the most used ingredient of Asian cuisine. You can substitute it with Tamari for a gluten free version.
How to make Korean Tteokbokki with Peppers
First step is to soak the rice cakes in a hot vegetable broth (I used dry, vacuum sealed ones - skip this step if you're using fresh or freshly made Garaetteok).
Next we need to dice the peppers and sauté or stir fry in some vegetable oil until nice and soft, or with a bit of a bite left, if you prefer.
Let's put our cooked peppers aside now and move onto our gorgeous, rich spicy sauce.
In the same wok add the minced garlic, the chili flakes (omit if you want it to be less spicy), the Gochujang (Korean Chilli Paste), the Soy Sauce, the Brown Sugar and the Corn Syrup. Mix well then add the vegetable broth in which we have previously soaked the rice cakes.
Bring to a boil then add the (soaked) rice cakes. 
Cook on medium-high heat for another 10 minutes or until they are soft enough for you.
Finally stir in the previously sautéed peppers and the scallions, roughly chopped into a 2 inches pieces.
Serve the Korean Tteokbokki with peppers immediately with some Homemade Kimchi, and enjoy!
If like this recipe, don't miss the followings:
- Vegan Chinese Style Homemade Dumplings
- Tofu Puffs with Vegan Mushroom Sauce
- Vegan Hoisin "Duck" Pancakes
- Speedy Vegan Kimchi
- Kung Pao Cauliflower
- Sweet and Sour Pineapple Tofu with Veggies
- Chinese Style Deep Fried Tofu Puffs
Korean Tteokbokki with Peppers Recipe
Ingredients:
350 g Rice Cakes (Garaetteok, 12 oz)
500 ml Boiling Water
1 teaspoon Vegetable Stock
2 Bell Peppers
6 Scallions
1 tablespoon Vegetable Oil
...for the sauce...
2-3 Garlic Cloves (grated)
½ teaspoon Chili Flakes (preferably Gochugaru)
2 tablespoon Gochujang (Korean Chilli Paste)
2 tablespoon Soy Sauce
3 tablespoon Brown Sugar
2 tablespoon Corn Syrup
Method:
1. Soak the rice cakes in a hot vegetable broth (skip this step if you're using fresh Garaetteok).
2. Dice the bell peppers and stir fry in hot vegetable oil until nice and soft with a bit of a bite (10 minutes). Set aside
3. In the same wok add the minced garlic, the chili flakes (omit if you want it to be less spicy), the Gochujang (Korean Chilli Paste), the Soy Sauce, the Brown Sugar and the Corn Syrup. Mix well.
4. Add the vegetable broth and bring everything to a boil.
5. Add the rice cakes and cook on medium-high heat for another 10 minutes or until they are soft.
6. Stir in cooked peppers and the scallions, roughly chopped into a 2 inches pieces.
7. Serve the Korean Tteokbokki with peppers right away with some vegan Kimchi.
Did you like this recipe? Let me know with a comment in the section below 🙂
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with love, Adriana.
Lauren
You're missing the scallions from the ingredients list. Hope this dish isnt too bad without them as I definitely didn't get any 🙁
Adriana Z.
I'm deeply sorry Lauren, I've just edited the recipe thanks to your comment. I can't believe I missed that info despite the reviews before posting it 🙁 !
In here scallions are needed to cut through the spice (it is a very hot dish, so keep that in mind and maybe adjust the amount of Gochujang paste to your liking).
However you can substitute them with a couple of onions (2-3 depending on size, chopped in quarters) , that you want to sauté along with the peppers in step number 2.
I hope you'll still enjoy the dish despite the missing ingredient.
And once again, apologies for the distraction.
Have a nice day 🙂
Lauren
Haha its all good. I was halfway through when I realised! Still very very delicious. We like the heat so the spicyness wasn't an issue! Had some kimchi in the fridge though which gave it that lovely freshness. I will definitely be making again ( and will make sure I get the scallions too :p )
Adriana Z.
Yay, I'm so glad to hear!
Thank you so much for the comment (and the heads up!) 🙂