Jjajang Tteokbokki are rice cakes in velvety black bean sauce. It’s a non-spicy variant of tteokbokki that is rich and satisfying for both kids and adults!
Tteokbokki is one of the most famous street foods in the world and there are many variations to it—spicy, soy-based, with ramen, etc.
Here I’ll be sharing a rice cake recipe that is based on black bean sauce. It’s sweet and salty, and another spin-off of my previous recipes—Jjangmyeon and Jjajangbap. Equally easy, but this one requires only one pan to make!
Like the noodle and rice version, this will hit the spot! This can be served as an appetizer or snack and your kids will love it! Bonus, these have vegetables but they will never know because it’s THAT GOOD!
Having jjajang tteokbokki is a completely difference experience from spicy tteokbokki, but it’s equally saucy, delicious, and satisfying minus the spice! Let’s go!
Ingredients for You’ll Need
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Rice Cake
Rice Cake is a popular ingredient in Asian dishes. particularly in Korea, we often use stir fries like this or soups like Tteokguk.
They are soft and chewy cylinder sticks or coin shapes, a little sweet but also bland, and they will carry the taste of any sauce or soup you cook it with!
I often buy mine from Hmart. It’s available either fresh or frozen. To thaw, you can place them in the fridge or soak the portion you will be using in water.
Store any leftover rice cakes in the freezer and minimize thawing and refreezing to avoid drying out and breakage.
Fish Cake
Fish Cakes are flat sheets of grounded and seasoned fish. It is savory and a great add-on to any stir-fries. I like to chop them into match stick sizes so they match the size of rice cakes and it’s easier to grab with your utensil!
The combination of black bean sauce and fish cake might be odd, but this is an essential ingredient that will complement the rice cakes. Together, soaked in the sauce, makes all the difference!
Black Bean Paste
Black Bean Paste is essentially fermented beans that result in a black paste. Ensure to get any of the Korean branded paste to ensure it is the correct one for this recipe.
On its own, it is a bit bitter. But as you fry it and saute it, the bitterness will die down and turn it into an earthy sauce base.
Pork
For this recipe, you can use either pork shoulder or pork belly. Both are amenable since we will chop them into small bite-size pieces.
Vegetables
For this recipe, we will use garlic, scallions, onion, and zucchini. Garlic and scallions will be used for sauteing. It will create a fragrant oil where the pork will render and the black bean sauce will be fried. It all starts with a good base!
Onions and zucchini are standard veggies used in any jjajang dishes. Feel free to substitute or add potatoes and/or cabbage for the zucchini.
Seasoning
- Soy Sauce and Oyster Sauce – These will bring the umami to the dish. We won’t need any more salt because these two are enough seasoning.
- Sugar – This will bring balance against the saltiness from the black bean paste, soy sauce, and oyster sauce.
- Black Pepper – To taste
- Cooking Wine or Soju – We will need a small amount to remove any odor from the meat.
Potato Starch Slurry
This is a combination of potato starch and water. The slurry will be the sauce’s thickening agent, making every drop stick to each ingredient. It will also turn the dish from runny to a rich, velvety consistency.
If you cannot find potato starch, corn starch will be a good substitute.
How to Make Jjajang Tteokbokki?
To begin, prepare your ingredients by thawing the rice cakes, chopping the fish cakes into matchstick sizes, mincing the pork, and dicing the vegetables. Once these are ready, it will be a quick cooking process.
In a pan, with a little bit of oil, saute the garlic and scallion. Once it is fragrant, add the minced pork and saute well. Use only a small amount of oil as the pork will still render more as it cooks.
Add the vegetables and mix with the pork. Make a well in the middle and add the black bean paste. Saute the paste well to remove any bitter taste. Incorporate it well with the pork and veggies.
Add the cooking wine and saute for a bit to reduce the odor from the pork. It should be more fragrant at this point. Season with soy sauce, oyster sauce, and black pepper. Mix it well, then add water and bring it to a boil.
Dissolve the sugar into the sauce and taste. It is going to be runny, but it should taste great. Otherwise, add a little bit of soy sauce and sugar.
Add the rice cakes and fish cakes, then cook for three minutes. They should turn soft and chewy. Allow the sauce to reduce and be absorbed by the rice cakes.
At this point, the sauce may still be too runny so prepare the starch slurry and gradually add it to the tteokbokki. Mix it right away so the starch gets evenly spread out and it can quickly thicken the sauce.
Plate and garnish with sesame seeds and enjoy! I don’t think there will be any leftovers for this!
Serving and Storage
Serve the dish while steaming hot and with kimchi on the side. They will complement each other perfectly! If in spicy tteokbokki, you add ramen. In jjajang tteokbokki, a bowl of rice would be great for this!
I doubt you will have any leftovers, and I discourage it because the rice cakes would become hard and the sauce will thicken up even more. but if you do, store it in an air-tight container in the fridge. To reheat, reheat it stove up with a little bit of water to bring it back to its original consistency.
Other snacks you might like:
Make sure to leave a rating, a comment, or tag me on Facebook, Instagram, or Tiktok when you chop them up! Yeobosayo!
Jjajang Tteokbokki (Non-Spicy)
Ingredients
- 1/2 tbsp Garlic Minced
- 1 stalk Scallions Chopped
- 1/2 of Whole Onion Minced
- 1/2 of Whole Zucchini Diced
- 50 grams Fish Cake Sliced into matchstick sizes
- 200 grams Rice Cake
- 100 grams Pork Belly or Pork Shoulder Minced
- 1 tbsp Vegetable or Canola Oil For sauteing
- 1 1/2 tbsp Black Bean Paste
- 1 tbsp Cookine Wine or Soju
- 1 tbsp Soy Sauce
- 1 tbsp Oyster Sauce
- Black Pepper To taste
- 1 cup Water For the sauce
- 1 tbsp Sugar
- 1 tbsp Potato Starch
- 2 tbso Water For the slurry
Instructions
- Prepare the ingredients by thawing the rice cakes, chopping/dicing the scallions, onion, and zucchini, chopping the fishcakes to matchstick sizes, and mincing the pork.
- In a pan, saute the garlic and scallions. Once fragrant, add the pork and saute well.
- Add the onion and zucchini and mix well.
- Make a well in the middle and add the black bean paste, fry for a bit then mix with the other ingredients.
- Add cooking wine, soy sauce, oyster sauce, and black pepper. Mix in the seasonings thoroughly.
- Add water, bring to a boil and taste.
- Add the fish cake and rice cake and cook for 3 minutes until the rice cakes are soft and chewy.
- Allow the water to reduce, meanwhile, make a slurry by combining potato starch and water.
- Add the slurry slowly and mix right away to thicken the tteokbokki.
- Once the sauce is nicely velvety, plate, serve hot, and enjoy!
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