Tteok-bokki
Tteok-bokki or stir-fried rice cakes is a popular Korean food made from small-sized garae-tteok called tteokmyeon or commonly tteok-bokki-tteok. Eomuk, boiled eggs, and scallions are some common ingredients paired with tteok-bokki in dishes. It can be seasoned with either spicy gochujang or non-spicy ganjang -based sauce; the former being the most typical form, while the latter is less common and sometimes called gungjung-tteok-bokki.
Today, variations also include curry-tteok-bokki, cream sauce-tteok-bokki, jajang-tteok-bokki, seafood-tteok-bokki, galbi-tteok-bokki and so on. Tteok-bokki is commonly purchased and eaten at bunsikjip as well as pojangmacha. There are also dedicated restaurants for tteok-bokki, where it is referred to as jeugseog tteok-bokki ''. It is also a popular home dish, as the rice cakes can be purchased in pre-packaged, semi-dehydrated form.
History
The first record on tteok-bokki appears in Siuijeonseo, a 19th century cookbook, where the dish was listed using the archaic spelling steokbokgi. According to the book, tteok-bokki was known by various names including tteokjjim, tteok-japchae, and tteok-jeongol. The royal court version was made from white tteok, sirloin, sesame oil, soy sauce, scallions, rock tripe, pine nuts, and toasted and ground sesame seeds, while the savory, soy sauce-based tteok-bokki 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 tteok-bokki also appears in the revised and enlarged edition of :ko:조선무쌍신식요리제법|Joseon Yori Jebeop, where it is described as a soy sauce-based savory dish.It is believed that the spicy variant of tteok-bokki made with gochujang-based sauce first appeared in the 1950s. When Ma Bok Lim participated in the opening of a Chinese restaurant, she dropped tteok into hot sauce accidentally and ate it, and found that it was delicious. After that, she began selling it in Sindang and it has since become the most common variant of tteok-bokki. Today, the typical tteok-bokki purchased and eaten at bunsikjip and pojangmacha are red and spicy, while the soy sauce-based, non-spicy version is referred to as gungjung-tteok-bokki. Rice tteok rose in popularity as the South Korean economy developed, and various versions of the dish have proliferated since. As it was once a working-class dish, wheat tteok was often substituted for rice tteok.
Varieties
Like other popular Korean dishes, tteok-bokki has seen numerous variations and fusions. Boiled eggs and pan-fried mandu were traditionally added to tteok-bokki. Ingredients such as seafood, short ribs, instant noodles, chewy noodles are also common additions to the dish.Variations based on added ingredients
Haemul-tteok-bokki, features seafood as its secondary ingredient.Galbi-tteok-bokki features short ribs as its secondary ingredient.
Ra-bokki and jol-bokki are similar variants which add noodles to tteok-bokki. Ra-bokki adds ramyeon noodles, and jjol-bokki adds chewy jjolmyeon wheat noodles.
Jeukseok-tteok-bokki
Jeongol -type tteok-bokki is called jeukseok-tteok-bokki, and is boiled on a table-top stove during the meal. A variety of additions, such as vegetables, mandu, and ramyeon or udong noodles are available at jeukseok-tteok-bokki restaurants. As jeukseok-tteok-bokki is usually a meal rather than a snack, it is often paired with bokkeum-bap.Variation based on sauce
Gochujang tteok-bokki
Piquant, red gochujang-based tteok-bokki is one of Korea's most popular snacks. While both soup-style gungmul-tteok-bokki and dry gireum-tteok-bokki are commonly enjoyed, the former is considered the de facto standard style. In gungmul-tteok-bokki, kelp-anchovy stock is often used to bring out the savory flavor. Gochugaru is often added for additional heat and color, while mullyeot helps with sweetness and consistency. Eomuk, boiled eggs, and diagonally sliced scallions are common additions to the dish. In gireum-tteok-bokki, the mixture of gochugaru, soy sauce, sugar or syrup, and sesame oil often replaces gochujang. Soft tteok sticks are seasoned with the sauce mixture, then stir-fried in cooking oil with a handful of chopped scallions and served. Tongin Market in Jongno, Seoul is famous for its gireum-tteok-bokki.There are also many variations in gochujang tteok-bokki, such as a version that is season with perilla leaf.
Ganjang tteok-bokki
Sweet and savory, brown soy sauce-based tteok-bokki is often referred to as gungjung-tteok-bokki. Its history dates back to a royal court dish before the introduction of chili pepper to the Korean peninsula in the mid-Joseon era. The earliest record of gungjung tteok-bokki is found in an 1800s cookbook called Siuijeonseo. Having a taste similar to japchae, it was enjoyed by the royals as a banchan and as a snack. Although traditional tteok-bokki was made with soup soy sauce, which is the traditional 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 or short ribs, sesame oil, scallions, rock tripe, pine nuts, and toasted and ground sesame seeds are still commonly used in modern gungjung-tteok-bokki. Other ingredients such as mung bean prouts, carrots, onions, dried Korean zucchini, garlic, and shiitake mushrooms are also common. The dish is typically served with egg garnish.Other variations
Gungmul tteok-bokki that are not based on either soy sauce or gochujang have also gained in popularity. There are some well-known variations.Curry tteok-bokki uses a yellow Korean-style curry base. It uses curry powder which includes turmeric, making it a healthier variation.
Cream sauce tteok-bokki uses a base inspired by carbonara. Cream sauce and bacon are used instead of gochujang and fish cakes.
Jajang-tteok-bokki features a sauce based on jajang.
Cheese tteok-bokki is a variant in which the tteok-bokki is either topped or stuffed with cheese. It is sold in snack bars and can also easily be made at home. Depending on persona preference, it can be eaten with seasonings such as green tea powder, herb powder, sesame, or parsley.
Gireum and gyeran tteok-bokki
Gireum tteok-bokki is a variety of tteok-bokki that is stir-fried in oil and served with little or no sauce. This style is most famously found in Seoul's Tongin Market, where visitors can buy vendor coins, which in turn can be used to purchase food from various vendors around the market. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who visited Korea in February 2014, sampled gireum tteok-bokki at the Tongin Market.Gyeran tteok-bokki is another variation which features no sauce. Only tteok, eggs, vegetables and seasonings are used. It differs from gireum tteok-bokki in that it is not spicy.