Tteokbokki (Spicy Rice Cakes)

Korean rice cakes, known as tteok in Korean, are made from pounded rice and come in various shapes and sizes – here we use the traditional cylindrical shape used for tteokbokki, stewed in a spicy sauce made up of gochujang, a Korean chilli paste, gochugaru, Korean chilli flakes, and stock. While the rice cakes are very hard before cooking, once soaked and simmered in the sauce they become soft and chewy. If you’ve never tried rice cakes before, this is Korea’s most loved rice cake recipe and is certain to get you hooked – tteok can be found at most Asian supermarkets, either chilled or frozen. This recipe omits the traditional Korean fish cake and anchovy broth/dashi to make it vegetarian. Some people like to add hard boiled eggs, ramen noodles, dumplings, or deep-fried seaweed spring rolls, so you can really make this recipe your own by adding any number of extras.

recipe updated 13 May 2025