Very Chewy Korean Stir-Fried Tteokbokki (궁중 똑붂이)

Korean Stir-Fried Rice Cake 3

Korean Stir-Fried Rice Cake

I wanted to try out a Korean rice cake recipe that is stir-fried with slices of the main ingredient – a change from cooking rice cakes in their long cylindrical forms such as those in my previous Korean Spicy Rice Cake Tteokbokki recipe. This recipe came along just in time. It is a sweet tasting dish stir-fried in a thick honey gravy sauce which makes the rice cake chewy and saccharine to munch on – a delightful change from the usual stir-fry of Chinese rice cake dishes that I am more familiar with.

The irony of it all is that this dish is supposed to be cooked with the cylindrical rice cakes, not the sliced ones. Oooooh well…

Ingredients:

Light soy sauce: 6 tbsp +6 tbsp
Honey (or sugar): 3 tbsp + 3 tbsp
Korean sesame oil: 2 tbsp + 1 tbsp
Ground blackpepper: 1 tsp + 1 tsp
Beef tenderloin: 500g, sliced thinly
Green onion (white stem): 1/2 stalk chopped finely + 1/2 stalk sliced lengthwise
Korean rice cake (sliced): 1 kg
Oil: 2 tbsp
Shitake mushroom: 10, washed & sliced
Carrot (big): 1, peeled & julienned
White onion (big): 1, chopped finely
Red pepper: 1, sliced
Zucchini: 1, peeled & julienned
Water: 1 cup
Chinese parsley: 1 stalk, chopped
Sesame seeds (optional): to garnish

Method:

Add 6 tbsp light soy sauce, 3 tbsp honey, 2 tbsp sesame oil and 1 tsp pepper to beef.
Stir in chopped green onions. Leave to marinate overnight in fridge.
Soak rice cakes in cold water for 30 min. Drain and set aside.
Heat oil in wok. Stir-fry beef including its marinade sauce till just cooked.
Mix in mushrooms, carrots, onion, red pepper and zucchini. Cover to cook for 2 min.
Stir in rice cakes, water, 6 tbsp soy sauce, 3 tbsp honey and 1 tsp pepper.
Cover and simmer on low heat for another 3 – 4 min.
Add 1 tbsp sesame oil. Stir quickly and remove from heat.
Garnish with sliced green onions, parsley and sesame seeds to serve.