[Hallyupedia] Tteokbokki

[Hallyupedia] Tteokbokki

BY Jeongbin Park

[ENG] Korean popular snack  

▲ This photo shows Tteokbokki.(Yonhap)

Tteokbokki is a popular Korean dish made by combining tteok(rice cakes) with ingredients such as eomuk(fish cakes), vegetables, and more. It is one of the most inconic street foods in South Korean. Tteokbokki sauce is typically made with gochujang (Korean traditional red pepper paste) as the main ingredient, along with sugar, soy sauce and other seasonings. The timeless popularity of tteokbokki has led to diverse recipes with different levels of spiciness and creative flavors.

 

Deep stirred with gochujang and sugar, this fiery-red dish features both sweet and spicy-hot flavors. However, tteokbokki has not always been a spicy dish. According to the 《Korean Food 101 : A Glimpse into everyday dining》 published by the Korean Food Promotion Institute in 2013, it was not until the 1950s that the currently dominant spicy-hot tteokbokki first appeared in the market. The dish became wide spread since the 1970s.

 

Tteokbokki Town located in Sindang-dong, Seoul, has earned its reputation as the empire of 'jeukseok tteokbokki' places, where people can create their own tteokbokki with their choice of ingredients. The Sindang-dong Tteokbokki Town launched in the late 1970s when spicy tteokbokki started to become popular.

▲ This photo shows Tteokbbokki town in Sindang-Dong in Seoul.(Yonhap)

▲ This photo, provided by Institute of Korean Royal Cuisine shows Gungjung–Tteokbokki.(Yonhap)

The earliest historical archive related to tteokbokki is 《Siuijeonseo》, a cookbook published during the late Joseon Dynasty. According to 《Siuijeonseo》, Tteokbokki, which was called as "Tteokjjim" or "Tteokjapchae" in the past, was made by stir-frying tteok(rice cakes), beef, mushrooms, vegetables, and other ingredients in soy sauce. In the past, tteokbokki was mainly cooked in the royal court ("gungjung"), and due to this historical origin, tteokbokki stir-fried with soy sauce is called "gungjung tteokbokki."

◇ Popular combinations of tteokbokki

▲ This photo shows ttoekbokki topped with deep-fried squid.(Yonhap)

▲ This photo shows sundae(L) and ttoekbokki combo.(Yonhap)

Tteokbokki becomes even more addictive when served with other Korean eateries. The most common combination is "twigim" (deep fried foods) and "sundae" (stuffed pig intestines). Twigim is often made of deep-fried shrimp, squid, vegetables, and red pepper, and ‘sundae’ is often made by steaming pork intestines stuffed with glass noodles. In Korea, this triple combination won its nickname "tteok-sun-twi."

In addition to twigim and sundae, many people in Korea also enjoy eating tteokbokki with other popular Korean street food such as eomuk(fish cakes), kimbap, dumplings and ramyeon (instant noodle). Recently, fried chicken, french fries with butter-garlic sauce, and cheese balls have also become popular additives to tteokbokki.


◇ Various types of Tteokbokki
Amongst the wide variation, the most popular versions is called "Rosé Tteokbokki," which features tteok(rice cakes), eomuk(fish cakes), onions, bacon, sausages, and other ingredients well cooked in rose sauce. Rosé tteokbokki is less spicy than gochujang-based tteokbokki.

 

▲ This photo, provided by Market Kurly shows korean style Rose-ttoekbokki.(Yonhap)

 

Making of the Korean rosé tteokbokki is a little tricky. The rosé sauce used in Korean-style rosé tteokbokki is a mixture of gochujang and cream sauce, and not the traditional Italian tomato-and-cream sauce. This modification is tailored to suit the taste of Koreans who enjoy spicy flavors, and due to this modification, Korean-style rosé sauce is spicier than the original rosé sauce.

▲ This photo shows oil tteokbokki made by stir-frying with rice cakes and sauce in oil.(Yonhap)

Oil tteokbokki is also a popular and unique variation of tteokbokki. It is made by stir-frying tteok(rice cakes) and seasonings in oil, which gives the dish its rich umami flavor. There are numerous other types of unique tteokbokki recipes. For example, 'jjajang tteokbokki' features a non-spicy yet sweet taste of the black bean paste. 'Carbonara tteokbokki' is made with rice cakes, bacon, broccoli, and cream sauce, while 'mala tteokbokki' is known for its spicy and tingling flavor due to the mala sauce.

 

▲ This photo shows tteokbokki made with diverse ingredients including cheese, dumplings, and glass noodles.(Yonhap)

 

The ingredients used in making tteokbokki are also very diverse. Even for ‘tteok(rice cakes)’, which is the main ingredient for tteokbokki, there are many different types depending on its ingredients. Some of them are made with wheat flour or rice flour. There are also many other unique ones like cheese-filled rice cakes or noodle-shaped rice cakes which all can be used to cook up tteokbokki. Eomuk(fish cakes), one of the oldest ingredients of tteokbokki, also comes in different shapes and thicknesses.

One can also add ingredients such as cheese, glass noodles, dumplings, and thinly sliced beef to customize the original dish to create more diverse and flavorful cuisine. A recent trend in Korea is to add fen haozi, China's wide glass noodles with similar texture to tteok.

 

 

◇ K-pop Stars' Love for Tteokbokki
Tteokbokki is often considered the soul food of many K-pop stars. Chaewon, the leader of LE SSERAFIM, picked Tteokbokki as her favorite food during her interview. 

 

▲ This photo shows Chaewon who is the leader of LE SSERAFIM.(Yonhap)

The girl group idol said her favorite late-night snacks are tteokbokki, fried chicken, and yukhoe (Korean-style beef tartare.) She loves basil cream tteokbokki, made with basil pesto and cream sauce, as well as the extra spicy tteokbokki from the popular Korean tteokbokki franchise "Dongdaemun Yupdduk."

▲ This photo captured from KYU TV shows KYUHYUN who is a member of SUPER JUNIOR.

 

Kyuhyun, a member of K-pop boy band Super Junior, is widely known for his deep affection for tteokbokki. He loves tteokbokki so much that he even hosts a tteokbokki restaurant tour program named 'Jo-Tteok-Kyu-Tteok' on his personal YouTube channel. Kyuhyun, who referred to himself as a 'tteokbokki mania' in 'Jotteok Gyutteok', revealed that tteokbokki is an indispensable part of his life, and that he eats tteokbokki at least three times a week.

Jimin, a member of K-pop super group BTS, sparked a craze for tteokbokki around the world. In 2019, when Jimin visited Dongdaemun Marketplace and was seen enjoying his Tteokbokki, the Korean street food instantly became a hot topic on social media. Since then, popularity of tteokbokki has rapidly grown both at home and overseas.
 

▲ This photo captured from BANGTANTV shows Jimin of BTS.

Tteokbokki again blasted the internet when Jimin mentioned the food in his In "Jimin 'Set Me Free Pt.2' MV Shoot Sketch - BTS (Bangtan Boys)'" on BANGTANTV on YouTube. He said he hasn't been able to enjoy spicy food like tteokbokki for a long time because he's been on a diet for his comeback.

 

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