Tteokbokki

Tteokbokki is one of the foods that Koreans love.
I predict that it will probably be ranked 10.
If Korean stay abroad for a long time, tteokbokki is a food that Koreans want to eat.

Tteokbokki starts with street food.
If you eat it with eomuk, Gimbap and Sundae which are usually sold together at a Bunsik(Korean snack restaurants), it shows a great combination
It is recommended to Twigim(Deep fried), sundae and Gimbap in tteokbokki sauce.
It also goes well with soju.

History of Tteokbokki

The history of tteokbokki based on gochujang which is generally known, is not long.
It has appeared since the 1950s, and before that, there was tteokbokki based on soy sauce and it dates back to the Joseon Dynasty.
There seems to be no record of prior to the Joseon Dynasty.

Big distinction of tteokbokki

It can be largely distinguished depending on whether the ingredients of Tteok(rice cake) are flour or rice.
When rice was expensive, flour were the main ingredient in tteokbokki.
This was a period when Korea’s economic situation was not good because it was not easy to eat rice.

However, this is an era where rice remains.
Tteokbokki using rice cakes made of rice can also be easily found because of the easily available rice

The biggest difference between tteokbokki with rice cake and tteokbokki with flour rice cake is the texture.
This difference is divided according to individual tastes and some Bunsikgips sell a mixture of rice cakes and flour cakes.

The difference in the taste of Tteokboki

The taste of tteokbokki varies considerably depending on the person making it.
It is a simple cooking process with rice cake, water, and seasoning(base on Gochujang) but the taste varies greatly.
You can think of it as a difference in seasoning that contains the secret recipes of chefs.
So Koreans use their favorite tteokbokki restaurants or Bunsiks.

The development of Tteokbokki

It is now developing from simple food to a meal.
With the addition of various ingredients such as meat, seafood, vegetables, cheese, ramen and eggs, the types of Tteokbokki are increasing and it has become a food that can be enjoyed by all children to the elderly.

In particular, spicy tteokbokki is gaining popularity among young people and it is also gaining popularity as a snack for alcohol.
It tastes good with soju.

Types of Tteokbokki

Regular Tteokbokki

Common tteokboki sold at street snack bars includes rice cakes, fish cakes, and some vegetables.
The price is about 3,000 won to 4,000 won.

Cup tteokbokki

Tteokbokki is sold in paper cups.
You can think of it as for children, and after school, children buy and eat tteokbokki in paper cups.
The price is 1,000 won or less.

Jeukseok Tteokbokki

It talks about Tteokbokki that is not cooked.
You can eat it while cooking yourself and it is sold at restaurants rather than general Bunsiks.

Gukmul Tteokbokki – Soup Tteokbokki

Gukmul meaning is Soup, so it can be called Soup Tteokbokki.
Details are available here.

Gireum Tteokbokki

It is stir-fried like fried rice cake and sauce in oil.
It’s quite unique, but it’s hard to eat a lot.
It’s good to eat with beer, so you can see it as a snack to drink.

Gopchang Tteokbikki

Spicy tteokbokki with gopchang.
Details are available here.

Garaetteok Tteokbikki

I’s not a typical type of rice cake. It’s made with Garaetteok(bar rice cake).
It is a different kind of tteokbokki with the texture of Garaetteok(bar rice cake).

Jajang Tteokbokki

Tteokbokki cooked with Chunjang sauce not gochujang sauce.
Children like it because it tastes similar to jajang sauce.

Tteokbokki is

If you visit Korea, I recommend you to try it, but it is not easy to recommend a restaurant that sells delicious tteokboki.
As the younger generation likes tteokbokki, changes are taking place quickly Therefore, it is regrettable that old-style tteokbokki is gradually disappearing.