To add a little spice to this tteokbokki, omit the bell pepper and use a couple of tablespoons of minced fresh Cheongyang chilli or other green chilli. Another way to add spice would be to use chilli oil for stir-frying the rice cakes and beef.
GANJANG STIR-FRIED TTEOKBOOKI RECIPE
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes
Serves: 4
440g tteokbokki rice cakes
For the sauce
4 Tbsp ganjang (Korean soy sauce)
3 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp sesame oil
1 Tbsp mirin
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
For the tteokbokki
150g beef, top round (topside) or foreshank
1 king oyster mushroom
2 Tbsp neutral cooking oil
100g onion, cut into 6mm slices
80g green bell pepper, cut into 5cm × 6mm slices
60g daepa (Korean scallion), cut into 1.3-cm diagonal slices
- If the rice cakes are dried (shelf stable), soak them in lukewarm water for about 10 minutes, then drain. Fresh or thawed frozen rice cakes do not need to be rehydrated.
- Make the sauce: In a small bowl, combine the soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, mirin, garlic, and black pepper and mix well until uniform. Set aside.
- Prepare the tteokbokki: Cut the beef into 5 × 0.6 cm matchsticks and set in a bowl. Add 1 tablespoon of the sauce and massage to coat. Halve the mushroom lengthwise and cut crosswise into slices 6mm thick.
- In a large frying pan, heat the cooking oil over high heat. Add the rice cakes and beef and stir-fry for 30 seconds. Add the sauce and 4 tablespoons water and cook until the water evaporates. Add the mushroom, onion, bell pepper, and daepa and stir-fry for 1 more minute. Check that the rice cakes are cooked through before removing from the heat.
- Serve hot on a large plate.
Recipe extracted from The Korean Cookbook by Junghyun Park and Jungyoon Choi, published by Phaidon. $80, out now.
