Cheese Tteokbokki

This Cheese Tteokbokki features chewy Korean rice cakes smothered in a sweet and spicy gochujang sauce and molten cheese. The addition of cheese on top will definitely level up your tteokbokki!

Tteokbokki is a popular street food that you can find everywhere in Korea. However, do you know what is better than the original tteokbokki? It’s Cheese Tteokbokki! 

Driven by the young generation, cheese consumption has been rapidly rising in Korea over the last two decades. Cheeses are now commonly added to various traditional Korean dishes, such as gimbap, fried rice, pancake, etc. More creative ideas, incorporating cheese into Korean food, are on the rise, and cheese is becoming a “hip” ingredient in Korean cuisine. Cheese Tteokbokki is also not an exception.

If you wonder if cheese and tteokbokki really go well together, they do! The melted cheese combined with the spicy rice cake tastes even more irresistible. And don’t worry if you can’t handle spicy food very well because this recipe might be a better option for you. The addition of cheese somehow dilutes the spiciness of the gochujang sauce. It is super delicious, umami-rich, and highly addictive!

About Tteokbokki

Tteokbokki (떡볶이) is a beloved Korean traditional food that has sticks of rounded rice cake as the main ingredient. “Tteok” is the Korean word for rice cake and “bokki” is the Korean word for something fried. Therefore, tteokbokki literally translated as “stir-fried rice cake”. 

Components of Cheese Tteokbokki

Here are the components you need to make Cheese Tteokbokki at home.

• Korean Rice Cake. For making this recipe, you will need garatteok (가래떡), a long, cylindrical white rice cake made with non-glutinous rice flour. You can find them in different sizes in Korean grocery stores. Though all rice cakes taste the same, the size and shape dramatically affect the texture and flavor. The thick rice cake is usually cut into thin slices for making rice cake soup. The thin and short type is used for tteokbokki because the thin one quickly soaks in flavor. You can use either one for this recipe, but the thick one needs to be cut shorter as it will take much longer to cook.
• Gochujang Sauce. The red tteokbokki sauce is usually made with a combination of gochujang (Korean chili pepper paste), gochugaru (Korean red chili flakes), and other seasonings. If you don’t like it too spicy, simply use gochujang without any gochugaru. To make it really spicy, add more gochugaru to increase the heat level without altering the taste.
• Korean Soup Stock. This is the base of the tteokbokki sauce. Among others, dried kelp and dried anchovy stock is the most commonly used soup stock in Korean cooking. You can also use dashi broth or simply substitute it with any other stock if you can’t find this.
• Cheese. Mozzarella cheese is used for this recipe, but you can definitely use other melty cheese options.

Other Additions

If you feel like rice cakes are way too boring, you can try adding add-ins to your Cheese Tteokbokki. Today, people add all sorts of other ingredients, such as eomuk (fish cake), dumplings, eggs, sausages, and seafood. 

More Korean Recipes

While you are here, don’t forget to check out also these recipes!

• Bibimbap 
• Rabokki (Ramyeon Tteokbokki)
• Japchae (Korean Stir-Fry Noodles)
• Kimbap (Korean Rice Rolls)
• Tuna Kimchi Pancakes
• Hotteok (Sweet Korean Pancakes)

Yield: 3-4 servings

Cheese Tteokbokki

Print

This Cheese Tteokbokki features chewy Korean rice cakes smothered in a sweet and spicy gochujang sauce and molten cheese.

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Total Time 20 minutes

Ingredients

• 500 gr fresh/frozen Korean rice cakes
• 2 cups dashi/Korean soup stock (480 ml)
• 1 cup grated mozzarella cheese (225 gr), or more

Sauce

• 3 tbsp gochujang/Korean chili paste
• 2 tsp gochugaru/Korean chili flakes
• 1 tbsp granulated sugar
• 1/2 tbsp corn syrup/granulated sugar
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tsp minced garlic

Garnish

• 1 tsp sesame oil
• Finely chopped scallions/green onions
• Toasted sesame seeds

Instructions

1. If you are using frozen rice cakes, submerge them in warm water for 20-30 minutes or until they soften. If you are using fresh rice cakes, skip this step.
2. In a small bowl, combine all the sauce ingredients until well combined.
3. Heat a large frying pan or skillet over medium-high heat. Add the soup stock and rice cakes. Let the stock boil. Then, add the sauce and stir until well incorporated. Let the sauce boil until it thickens.
4. After the sauce has thickened to your liking, move the rice cakes to the center of the pan (to cushion the cheese and prevent it from sinking into the sauce) and spread mozzarella cheese on top. Close the lid. Cook until the cheese is fully melted. Turn off the heat.
5. Drizzle sesame oil and add scallions and sesame seeds if desired.
6. Serve hot while the cheese is still melted.

Notes

You can add some add-ins, such as oemuk (fish cake), hard-boiled eggs, sausages, and seafood if desired.

Did you make this recipe?

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