Buffalo Chicken Tteokbokki

The Anchor Bar in Buffalo, New York is the undisputed home of Buffalo Chicken Wings. Their sweet, fiery sauce is often imitated, but never duplicated, at least until the Anchor Bar decided to start bottling the sauce in large quantities for sale.

A friend of mine brought me a bottle of Buffalo sauce direct from Buffalo, NY (thanks Cynthia) and I’m using this as the basis of my latest fusion tteokbokki recipe.

The first step in any tteokbokki recipe is to pre-soak the noodles in hot water for about 10 minutes (but consult the Garae tteok package and follow those directions).

Put the butter in the skillet set on medium heat.

Add the soaked and dried tteok and fry for about 5 minutes. Flip over and fry on the other side, until golden-brown. Set aside.

Add the chicken and saute until it’s about 1/2 cooked. Increase the temperature to medium high.

Pour the buffalo wing sauce into your skillet, add the celery and cook for about 5 minutes . Add the tteokbokki noodles and cook for about 5 minutes more until the noodles are cooked.

Serve with an optional cup of bleu cheese or ranch dressing on the side for dipping.

Tags: All Korean Food, Korean Recipes, recipe, tteokbokki

Today, I’m bringing tteokbokki to the new world, first stop in Mexico. Due to the labor-intensive nature of traditional Mexican mole sauces, I didn’t make this mole from scratch. The mole that Americans recognize is Mole Poblano.

Wikipedia says, “Mole poblano is prepared with dried chili peppers (commonly ancho, pasilla, mulato and chipotle), ground nuts and/or seeds (almonds, indigenous peanuts, and/or sesame seeds), spices, Mexican chocolate (cacao ground with sugar and cinnamon and occasionally nuts), salt, and a variety of other ingredients including charred avocado leaves, onions, and garlic. Dried seasonings such as ground oregano are also used. In order to provide a rich thickness to the sauce, bread crumbs or crackers are added to the mix.”

Before you start making the sauce, soak your Garae tteok in a hot water bath (not boiling water) for 10 minutes (check the instructions on the package of tteok you bought at the Korean grocery store for recommendations on this step). Dry them off.

Here are the ingredients

1 lb Garae tteok noodles (presoaked)
1/4 cup Mole Poblano paste
1 cup chicken stock
1 lb chicken thighs, diced
1 tbsp grapeseed oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 onion, diced
1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds for a garnish

Sautee the chicken thighs, garlic and onion in grapeseed oil until the chicken is about halfway cooked. Add the chicken stock and mole paste. Once the mole sauce has returned to a boil, put in the tteok and cook for an additional 5-7 minutes until the tteok is cooked.

Notice that the sauce has an appearance similar to Jjajangmyun (Korean Black Bean Paste Noodles). This recipe could make an interesting North American alternative for Jjajangmyun when “Black Day” comes around on April 14. Something to think about.

Tags: All Korean Food, Korean Recipes, recipe, tteokbokki

Posted by Tammy

Today’s tteokbokki recipe keeps us on the Italian peninsula by using Bologna’s famous sauce as the wardrobe for the tteok noodles.

When I lived in Korea, I did not know much about cooking. My cooking skills was limited to grilled cheese sandwiches and the occasional one pot meal, usually featuring a couple of chicken breasts thrown in a rice cooker with 2 cups of rice mixed with random spices thrown in for flavor.

The last 3 months or so I lived in Korea, we had a Korean woman who made lunch for us every day. When she wasn’t making Korean foods like japchae, she was making some kind of Korean fusion recipe (with interesting results). When she made this sauce for us, I though the diced carrots were a Korean innovation. It wasn’t until much later that I discovered Spaghetti Bolognese and realized why the carrots were there. Our Korean cook was right, I was the babo.

There’s only difference between this recipe and hers. I remember our Korean cooks version was a bit sweeter (maybe because she didn’t put wine in her sauce) than the version I have here.  Hubby liked mine better.

There’s only one difference between this recipe and hers. I remember our Korean cook’s version was a bit sweeter — maybe because she didn’t put wine in her sauce — than the version I have here. Hubby liked mine better though.

1 carrot, diced
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1/2 cup celery, chopped
1/2 cup green bell pepper, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
3/4 pound ground beef
2 cans (15 ounce) tomato sauce
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup red wine (use a brand you’d actually drink, not “cooking wine”)
1 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons basil
2 teaspoons oregano
1 teaspoon lemon peel, grated
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon thyme, dry
salt and pepper to taste
1 pound garae tteok, presoaked

1. Soak garae tteok (가래떡), which are the fat cylindrical rice noodles traditionally used in tteokbokki, in a hot water bath — not boiling water — for 10 minutes. (Check the instructions on the package of tteok noodles you bought at the Korean grocery store or Asian supermarket for recommendations on this step.)
2. Saute carrots, garlic, onion, celery and green pepper in oil on medium high heat.
3. Add ground beef and brown. Drain fat.
4. Add tomato sauce, water, red wine, sugar and Italian seasoning. Cover sauce and simmer for 30 minutes.
5. During the last five to 10 minutes of cooking time, add the garae tteok and simmer until they’re tender.

The leftover sauce — if there is any — will match well with any pasta, particularly penne.

Tammy Quackenbush lives in San Francisco.  Her love of Korean food started when she taught ESL in Chuncheon, Gangwon-do back in 1996-1997. However, she didn’t become “famous” for my Korean cooking style until she started making cooking videos on YouTube as Koreanfornian Cooking two years ago (had to put her college degree to use somehow).  Her recipes (mostly in video form) have been featured on Slice/Seriouseats.com, Foodbuzz, Korea.net and iFoodTV.com.

Tags: All Korean Food, ddeokbokki, korean recipes, recipe, tteokbokki

Posted by Tammy

Arrabiata sauce is an Italian pasta sauce. The word “arrabiata” literally means “angry sauce” and comes from the southern part of the Italian peninsula. This is the first Italian (and probably only) Italian sauce I’ve made that might make a Korean sweat (or want to blow their nose).

First, soak your garae tteok soak in a hot water bath (not boiling water) for 10 minutes (check the instructions on the package of tteok you bought at the Korean grocery store for recommendations on this step). While the garae tteok are soaking, start on your Arrabiata sauce.

Warning: Several of the recipes for Arrabiata sauce I read start off something like this: “Saute the gochugaru and red pepper flakes in about 3 tbsp. olive oil. Add garlic and saute until you start to smell garlic in your kitchen.” I’d say do this at your own risk. Unless you have a commercial kitchen with a heavy-duty fan, you will mace yourself and your family (and possibly set off your fire alarm) and that’s not a good first step unless you want your spouse, children and family pets to be very angry with you.

Here are the ingredients

1 lb garae tteok noodles (presoaked)
1 teaspoon Korean pepper powder (gochugaru) or hot paprika
1 teaspoon Italian red pepper flakes
3 tablespoons Olive oil
5 Cloves Garlic, minced
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup red wine (use a wine that you’d actually drink)
1 can (14 1/2 oz) chopped tomatoes
salt and pepper to taste

Start with approximately 3 tbsp. olive oil in your sauce pan. Add garlic and saute until you start to smell garlic in your kitchen. Add the onions and saute them until they are nearly translucent. At this point, add the gochugaru, Italian red pepper flakes and tomatoes. Cook for about 10 minutes. Serve it while it’s hot!

Tammy Quackenbush lives in San Francisco.  Her love of Korean food started when she taught ESL in Chuncheon, Gangwon-do back in 1996-1997. However, she didn’t become “famous” for her Korean cooking style until she started making cooking videos on YouTube as Koreanfornian Cooking two years ago (had to put her college degree to use somehow).  Her recipes (mostly in video form) have been featured on Slice/Seriouseats.com, Foodbuzz, Korea.net and iFoodTV.com.

Tags: All Korean Food, ddeokbokki, Korean Recipes, recipe, tteokbokki

Korma Curry Tteokbokki in my trusty cast iron skillet

Posted by Tammy

The Fourth Day of tteokbokki continues our culinary journey in India. Today’s inspiration is Korma Curry, which is a staple of North Indian Mughlai cuisine. The recipe for Korma curry goes back to the 16th century, when Persia’s Mughal Empire controlled much of India.

This packs some decent heat, but Korma curry certainly has lots of flavor. The basic recipe comes from Sukhi’s.com, which is a San Francisco Bay area company that produces a popular line of Indian curry pastes and sauces.

1 lb Garae tteok noodles (soaked for about 10 minutes in hot water)
1 packet Sukhi’s Korma Curry Sauce
¼ cup whipping cream
¾ cup water

In saucepan, add Garae tteok, Sukhi’s Korma Curry Sauce, and water. Mix ingredients together well, and simmer on medium high heat. When tteok is cooked, stir in cream. Bring to boil. Serve hot.

Tammy Quackenbush lives in San Francisco.  Her love of Korean food started when she taught ESL in Chuncheon, Gangwon-do back in 1996-1997. However, she didn’t become “famous” for her Korean cooking style until she started making cooking videos on YouTube as Koreanfornian Cooking two years ago (had to put her college degree to use somehow).  Her recipes (mostly in video form) have been featured on Slice/Seriouseats.com, Foodbuzz, Korea.net and iFoodTV.com.

Tags: All Korean Food, ddeokbokki, Korean Recipes, recipe, tteokbokki

Madras Curry Tteokbokki

Posted by Tammy

My next source of tteokbokki fusion inspiration comes from the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Madras, the capital of Tamil Nadu, which is now called Chennai, is located in the southwest corner of India. The region is well known for its spicy curry.

First, soak your Garae tteok in a hot water bath (not boiling water) for 10 minutes (check the instructions on the package of tteok you bought at the Korean grocery store for recommendations on this step).

2 tablespoons grapeseed or coconut oil
1 green pepper
1 red pepper
1 yellow pepper
4 cloves garlic (2 tsp minced)
1 large onion
14 oz. chopped tomatoes
3 tablespoons Madras curry paste (I used 1 packet of Sukhi’s Madras Curry paste)
handful of chopped cilantro
1 teaspoon lemon juice
3/4 cup chicken broth

First, finely slice the onion & peppers. Chop the cilantro as well, cutting off the stems.

Heat oil in wok (or cast iron skillet) over high heat. Stir-fry onions and garlic until lightly browned. Add peppers and stir fry for 2 more minutes.

Add curry paste, tomatoes, chicken broth and lemon juice. Simmer for about 10 minutes. Add the tteok and continue to simmer until the tteok are cooked (approximately 5 minutes). Put the cilantro in during the last minute of cooking.

This was the first sauce I made that I wish I had cooked up some plain white rice to use up the rest of the sauce. It was that good.

Tammy Quackenbush lives in San Francisco.  Her love of Korean food started when she taught ESL in Chuncheon, Gangwon-do back in 1996-1997. However, she didn’t become “famous” for my Korean cooking style until she started making cooking videos on YouTube as Koreanfornian Cooking two years ago (had to put her college degree to use somehow).  Her recipes (mostly in video form) have been featured on Slice/Seriouseats.com, Foodbuzz, Korea.net and iFoodTV.com.

Tags: All Korean Food, ddeokbokki, Korean Recipes, recipe, tteokbokki

Thai Green Curry Tteokbokki with Korean banchan.

Posted by Tammy

On the second day of my tteokbokki marathon, I decided I’d make you a recipe for Thai Green Curry Tteokbokki.

The Thai green curry sauce recipe here is slightly modified from one posted online by the BBC.

Remember with all tteokbokki recipes, you start by soaking your garae tteok (가래떡), which are the fat cylindrical rice noodles traditionally used in tteokbokki, in a hot-water bath — not boiling water — for about 10 minutes. Check the instructions on the package of tteok you bought at the Korean grocery store for recommendations on this step.

Thai Green Curry paste ingredients

While the tteok are soaking, start making your Thai green curry paste. Since I work from home, I made the paste during my lunch break and kept it in the fridge for a few hours.

4-6 medium green chillies, de-seeded and roughly chopped
2 shallots, roughly chopped
2 tsp ginger juice
2 garlic cloves, crushed
small bunch of fresh cilantro, stalks and roots attached if possible
2 lemongrass stalks, chopped (if unavailable, use 2 tbsp dried)
2 limes, grated zest and juice
1 tbsp ground coriander seeds
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp black peppercorns, crushed
2 tsp fish sauce or light soy sauce
3 tbsp olive oil

1. Place all of the ingredients in a food processor and blitz to a paste. Use straight away or store in a jar in the fridge for up to 3 weeks. This quantity is enough for a curry for 8 people.

One quick tip about putting the paste ingredients into the food processor or blender. The lighter items, like the liquids and spices go in first, the heavier items (like the chopped peppers and shallots) should go in last for optimum puree action.

After I got off work, I grabbed the green curry paste and started on part two of this recipe.

3 tbsp Thai green curry paste
1 lb tteok noodles (soaked for an hour in warm/hot water)
2 1/2 cups coconut milk
1 1/2 tbsp fish sauce
1 1/2 tsp palm sugar (or brown sugar)
1 tbsp grapeseed oil

Saute the green curry paste in oil over medium heat until fragrant, reduce the heat, gradually add 2 1/2 cups of the coconut milk a little at a time, stir until a film of green oil surfaces.

Add the fish sauce and palm sugar and let it heat until they are dissolved. Then add the tteok and continue to cook on medium high heat for about 5-10 minutes or until the tteok are soft and the broth has reduced and thickened slightly.

Serve with your favorite Korean side dishes (banchan). Mine includes Kimchi, Fried Seaweed Stems (미역줄기 볶음), Korean Spinach Side Dish (시금치 나물) and Mung Bean Sprout Side-dish (숙주 나물).

Tammy Quackenbush lives in San Francisco.  Her love of Korean food started when she taught ESL in Chuncheon, Gangwon-do back in 1996-1997. However, she didn’t become “famous” for her Korean cooking style until she started making cooking videos on YouTube as Koreanfornian Cooking two years ago (had to put her college degree to use somehow).  Her recipes (mostly in video form) have been featured on Slice/Seriouseats.com, Foodbuzz, Korea.net and iFoodTV.com.

Tags: All Korean Food, ddeokbokki, Korean Recipes, recipe, tteokbokki

Posted by Tammy

As we count down 12 days of tteokbokki recipes until the Korean New Year, let’s start with Korea’s neighbor, China, for some inspiration.

Szechuan is a province in southwestern China, known for fiery sauces. Here’s a Szechuan sauce recipe I found at CDKitchen. With a few modifications, this sauce will be the basis for my Szechuan tteokbokki (떡볶이) recipe.

s with all tteokbokki recipes, you start by soaking your garae tteok (가래떡), which are the fat cylindrical rice noodles traditionally used in tteokbokki, in a hot water bath (not boiling water) for 10 minutes (check the instructions on the package of tteok noodles you bought at the Korean grocery store or Asian supermarket for recommendations on this step).

Here are most of the ingredients

1 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon minced garlic

1/2 cup chicken broth

1 1/2 teaspoon rice vinegar

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon hoisin sauce

1/4 teaspoon gochugaru powder (Korean red pepper powder)

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/8 teaspoon five-spice powder

1 lb garae tteok noodles, soaked

The finished product: Szechuan Tteokbokki

Add the garlic and saute for a minute until the noodles are warm but not browned. Combine the remaining ingredients in a bowl and add the mixture to the saucepan. Bring to a simmer and cover for 10 minutes. Add the tteok and cook for about 5-10 minutes until the tteok are completely cooked. Serve hot.

Tammy Quackenbush lives in San Francisco.  Her love of Korean food started when she taught ESL in Chuncheon, Gangwon-do back in 1996-1997. However, she didn’t become “famous” for her Korean cooking style until she started making cooking videos on YouTube as Koreanfornian Cooking two years ago (had to put her college degree to use somehow).  Her recipes (mostly in video form) have been featured on Slice/Seriouseats.com, Foodbuzz, Korea.net and iFoodTV.com.

Tags: All Korean Food, ddeokbokki, Korean Recipes, recipe, tteokbokki

Posted by Tammy

I’ll be posting 12 tteokbokki recipes over the next 12 days leading up to the Korean Lunar New Year (Eum-nyeok Seollal, 음 력 설날) in response to the South Korean government’s campaign to make the rice cake dish the linchpin in their international marketing strategy for Korean cuisine.

The government wants Korean cuisine and culture to be more greatly appreciated all over the world and chose tteokbokki as key to the public relations push. [See "Tteokbokki, topokki: Whatever you call it, it's good!"]

I wonder whether the governmental champions of Korean cuisine think that by making tteokbokki an international cuisine it will boost other Korean delicacies, such as Chosun royal cuisine, to international recognition.

Many in the Korean ex-pat blogosphere wonder why the Korean government would be pushing tteokbokki (or any other rice product) when current domestic production doesn’t meet current demand.

Tteok commonly found in most Korean grocery stores on this side of the Pacific (San Francisco Bay Area) is made in the U.S. with American rice. In other words, increasing domestic rice production is only part of the issue. Imagine tteokbokki as a tool of public relations and international diplomacy.

There’s a small snag though. Tteokbokki traditionally is a very, very spicy dish. Even some Koreans won’t eat it because it’s so spicy. That’s why the Korean government created an official government agency to create Korean-fusion tteokbokki recipes.

If the Korean government wants to send me a donation for inspiration kindled during my forthcoming 12 Days of Tteok, I wouldn’t mind. However, I’m doing this because of my love of Korean cuisine and the challenge of making 12 dishes in a row with the same ingredient.

When I pitched this project to Joe McPherson, my “boss” he asked, “You think you could pull them off?”

Peer into my refrigerator (right) and see that I’ve got the tteok stocked. I’ll blog; you decide.

The first thing I will do to help the South Korean government promote this dish is to not use their dumbed-down pronunciation of it. Some ex-pats and tourists in Korea consider it a little insulting that the Korean government thinks we’re too babo (바보, or dumb) to pick up the correct pronunciation.

Here’s a hint: Tteok is pronounced somewhere between dock and tock. The double-T of the transliteration is more like a held-D when spoken. The bogi part of the dish name is pronounced like bogey. So, tteokbogi is pronounced like dock bogey. See, that wasn’t so difficult.

Twelve different versions of tteokbokki (using sauces from different parts of Asia, Europe and North America) in 12 days can wreak havoc on anyone’s diet, so dine in moderation. Feasting with your eyes is calorie free.

Tammy Quackenbush lives in San Francisco.  Her love of Korean food started when she taught ESL in Chuncheon, Gangwon-do back in 1996-1997. However, she didn’t become “famous” for my Korean cooking style until she started making cooking videos on YouTube as Koreanfornian Cooking two years ago (had to put her college degree to use somehow).  Her recipes (mostly in video form) have been featured on Slice/Seriouseats.com, Foodbuzz, Korea.net and iFoodTV.com.

Tags: All Korean Food, Food, Korea, korean, Korean Recipes, recipe, tteokbokki