Rabokki
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Rabokki is an evolved version of tteokbokki, with added ramyeon noodles. The chewy rice cakes and soft noodles soak sweet and spicy flavor from the sauce.
Korea is famous for its street food dishes. From the moment you step into any busy place in Seoul, you cannot resist drooling at those colorful snacks. Arguably as the number one Korean street food, tteokbokki is one of the must-try iconic street food. It is impossible to not notice these bright red stir-fried rice cakes smoldering away like hot lava. You can find this dish all over the streets in Korea.
Do you know what is better than tteokbokki? I must say tteokbokki with added ramyeon, or known as rabokki, is an evolved version of the classic Korean street food, making it more of a hearty meal. I know all those bright red sauce may intimidate you from trying this recipe. These chewy rice cakes look a lot spicier than they are, but the sweet and spicy gochujang sauce definitely is quite addicting. Just some precaution not to eat this dish too much for those who are trying to lose some weight because Rabokki is essentially carbs from those rice cakes and ramyeon.
About Rabokki
Rabokki (라볶이) is a variation of tteokbokki (떡볶이), with ramyeon (라면) noodles addition. It consists of garaetteok, a cylinder-shaped white rice cake and ramyeon as the main ingredients with other ingredients such as eomuk or fish cake, dumplings, boiled egg, seafood, and even melted cheese. The ingredients are coated with sweet and spicy gochujang sauce and the chewy rice cakes and soft noodles soak up a lot of the flavor. Rabokki is essentially an evolved version of tteokbokki and has been popular and highly commercialized by small vendors and restaurants. It is super fun to eat with all sorts of interesting textures from the rice cakes, ramyeon, and fish cakes.
Tips on Making Rabokki
1. Choose the right rice cake
Garaetteok (가래떡) is a long and cylindrical white rice cake made with non-glutinous rice. 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 and rabokki 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.
You can find garraetteok sold freshly made, refrigerated, or frozen at Korean grocery stores. I really recommend using the freshly made rice cakes because the frozen one tends to be dry, easy to crack, and not chewy.
2. Make it more savory
You can simply use water to make rabokki, but you need broth if you want to make it tastier. Anchovy and kelp broth is typically used for a depth of flavor. Boil anchovy and dried kelp for 15 minutes over medium heat to make the broth.
For convenience, you can also use dashi powder
. Dashi powder is the quickest way to make the broth as you can sprinkle the powder into the dishes while you are cooking and precooking time is not required.
3. Adjust the sauce
The rabokki sauce is made with a combination of gochujang
(Korean red chili pepper paste) and gochugaru
(Korean red chili pepper flakes). If you do not like the sauce to be too spicy, use only gochujang without any gochugaru. If you like it super spicy, adding gochugaru is the way to increase the heat level without altering the flavor. Be aware that each different brand of gochujang and gochugaru may result in different spiciness, sweetness, and saltiness in rabokki.
Gochugaru is a staple spice in Korean cuisine, made from coarsely ground red pepper. This spice is almost used in every Korean dish. If you cannot get the real deal, you can use cayenne pepper flakes or ground cayenne pepper for its substitutes. It will not completely change the flavor. However, if you use cayenne pepper flakes, you may find seeds here and there.
4. Add the ramyeon at the last minute
Add ramyeon and vegetables at the last minute of cooking rabokki. When you add ramyeon at the beginning, the noodles will soak too much water and become too soft and soggy. I also add the instant ramyeon seasoning to make the flavor more savory.
(Notes: I used NongShim Shin Ramyun Noodle Soup, Gourmet Spicy.)
5. How to handle rabokki leftover
I really recommend finishing rabokki in the same day you cook it as rabokki leftover does not reheat well. Make sure there is no ramyeon left before putting the leftover in the fridge, considering leaving ramyeon in liquid will make it soggy and disintegrate into porridge texture. Then, you can reheat any leftover along with a little bit of water in a small pan over low heat on the next day.
In case you feel bored with eating rabokki, you can alternatively deep fry the rice cakes and fish cakes in oil. The outer gochujang sauce will make them extra crispy with nugget skin texture. I totally love the fried version as the rice cakes become soft on the inside and crispy on the outside.
(Notes: I made three times the recipe in these photos.)
More Korean Recipes
Ingredients
- 17.5 oz (500 gr) fresh or frozen Korean rice cakes
- 5 oz (150 gr) eomuk/odeng/Korean fishcake, chopped into small triangular pieces
- 1 package Korean instant ramyeon
- 2 cups (500 ml) water
- 1 tsp dashi powder
- 3 tbsp gochujang
- 1 tsp gochugaru
- 2 tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- 1/2 onion, thinly sliced
- 1 stalk green onion, cut into 1.5-inch/3.5 cm pieces
Topping
- Roasted sesame seeds
- Hard boiled eggs
Instructions
- If using the frozen rice cakes, soak them in warm water for 30 minutes to thaw or until they turn soft. Separate and cut them in 3-inch (7.5 cm) long pieces.
- Add water, dashi powder, rice cakes, and fish cakes into a medium pot over medium-high heat.
- Combine gochujang, gochugaru, granulated sugar, soy sauce, sesame oil, and minced garlic in a small bowl.
- When the water in the pot starts to boil, stir in the sauce gently with a wooden spoon.
- Keep stirring until the sauce thickens, which should take about 10 minutes. Add instant ramyeon noodles, ramyeon seasoning, and sliced onion into the pot.
- Stir until noodles have cooked. When noodles are cooked through, add green onion and turn off the heat. Top with roasted sesame seeds and hard boiled egg halves, if desired.
Lovely recipe! I always love to read other people make ddukbokki because there is always something different to others especially yours. I hope you can have a look and comment mine too here: http://nyamwithny.com/nyam-recipes-ddukbokki/ I always find it good to add sesame oil and sesame seeds.
What would you say is the first thing your fork or spoon goes for when you go for ddukbokki? Mine is the fishcake!