Tteokbokki
or simmered rice cake, is a Korean food made from small-sized called or commonly . Eomuk, boiled eggs, and scallions are some common ingredients paired with tteokbokki in dishes. It can be seasoned with either spicy gochujang or non-spicy ganjang-based sauce; the former is the more common form, while the latter is less common and sometimes called gungjung-tteokbokki.
Today, variations also include curry-tteokbokki, cream sauce-tteokbokki, jajang-tteokbokki, seafood-tteokbokki, rose-tteokbokki, galbi-tteokbokki and so on. Tteokbokki is commonly purchased and eaten at bunsikjip as well as pojangmacha. There are also dedicated restaurants for tteokbokki, referred to as jeukseok 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, 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. 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, which now has since become the most common variant of tteokbokki. Consequently, the district of Sindang is now famously known for tteokbokki.
Today, the typical tteokbokki purchased and eaten at bunsikjip and pojangmacha 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.
The 2022 English translation of South Korean author Baek Se-hee’s million plus-selling memoir, I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki, brought the dish to a global audience.
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, short ribs, instant noodles, and chewy noodles 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 are similar variants which add noodles to tteokbokki. Rabokki adds ramyeon noodles, and jjolbokki adds chewy jjolmyeon wheat noodles.
Jeukseok-tteokbokki
Jeongol -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, 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.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 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-tteokbokki, 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-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. The earliest record of gungjung tteokbokki 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 tteokbokki 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-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 ''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.
Jajang-tteokbokki features a sauce based on jajang.
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, Shanghainese chǎo niángāo 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, eggs, vegetables, and seasonings are used. It differs from gireum tteokbokki in that it is not spicy.