Tteokkochi, a popular South Korean street food, are sweet and spicy rice cake skewers that are my absolute favorite. And here I’ll show you how to make it at home.
Tteok means rice cake and kkochi means skewer! This has got to be my ultimate favorite street food. I especially remember devouring them as a kid on the streets of Korea, savoring the crispy, chewy texture and always wishing for more of that incredible sauce.
The sauce is a simple concoction of gochujang, sweetener, and other pantry staples. No need to cook, simply slather all that sticky and spicy goodness on the rice cakes.
In just ten minutes, you can recreate this iconic snack and experience the same joy I did, anytime you crave it, so I’m super excited to share this simple recipe with you.
Ingredients for Tteokkochi
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Rice Cake
Rice Cakes are cylinder sticks that are chewy and sticky like mochi. They are a little sweet and also bland but they will carry any sauce well. It is an ingredient used in Tteokbokki—spicy, jjajang, or soy-based.
I often get them from Hmart. It is available fresh or frozen, but more likely you’ll find the frozen ones. To use, thaw it in the fridge, get the portion you’ll need, and keep the rest in the freezer. Avoid thawing and refreezing it again as this can dry out the rice cakes leading them to break apart.
Tteokkochi Sauce
- Red Pepper Paste – This is the main base of the sauce. Red Pepper Paste is a unique Korean condiment that is made from chili powder fermented with rice. It is spicy and savory so we’re going to season it with other condiments to add more flavor.
- Ketchup – For a bit of acidity, you won’t taste the ketchup but it will bring balance to all other ingredients of the sauce.
- Soy Sauce – This will boost the savor and umami of the sauce.
- Garlic – For aroma.
- Sugar and Corn Syrup – This will be for sweetness and to make the sauce sticky so it adheres well to the rice cakes. If you don’t have corn syrup, just add more sugar.
How to Make Crispy Rice Cake Skewers?
Combine pepper paste, ketchup, garlic, soy sauce, sugar, and corn syrup. Mix this thoroughly and set aside. For this recipe, you can make as many rice cake skewers as you want, just multiply the sauce as needed.
If you don’t like the strong garlic flavor, you can actually cook the sauce for a couple of minutes. Otherwise, this is good to go.
To prepare the rice cakes, boil them for a minute, then drain, rinse in cold water, and pat dry. Boil only until it’s soft enough but will still hold shape when you skewer it. If you are using fresh rice cakes, you can skip this step.
Stick the rice cakes in a skewer, about 5-6 rice cakes each.
TIP: To take it up a notch, try adding mini Korean sausages or cocktail hot dogs between the rice cakes. This variation, known as “so-tteok so-tteok” (sausage and rice cake), is another popular street food.
In a pan with a bit of oil and in low to medium heat, panfry the rice cake skewers for 1-2 minutes on each side until slightly crispy! You can do little taps on the rice cake to check if it is done.
TIP: Keep the heat low to medium because the rice cakes may pop in high heat.
Once crispy, brush the sauce on both sides of the rice cake skewers. Garnish with sesame seeds, serve, and enjoy!
TIP: If you don’t have skewers, you can simply toss the crispy rice cakes on the sauce. However, you need to consume this immediately as the moisture from the sauce can reduce the crispiness of the rice cakes.
Serving and Storage
Only prepare the rice cakes you will consume because once they get cold, they also turn hard. The sauce, however, keeps well in the fridge so you can store any leftovers for up to a week.
Other Korean 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!
Rice Cake Skewer (Tteokkochi)
Equipment
- Skewers
Ingredients
- Rice Cakes As much as you like (5-6 rice cakes per skewer)
- Sausage or Cocktail Hotdogs Optional
- 1 tbsp Red Pepper Paste
- 2 tbsp Ketchup
- 1/2 tbsp Soy Sauce
- 1/2 tbsp Garlic
- 1 tbsp Sugar
- 2 tbsp Corn Syrup
- Vegetable or Canola Oil For frying
Instructions
- Combine red pepper paste, ketchup, soy sauce, garlic, corn syrup, and sugar.
- Boil the rice cakes in water for a minute, then drain, rinse, and pat dry.
- Stick the rice cakes in a skewer, about 5-6 rice cakes each. You can also skewer rice cakes and mini sausage or cocktail hotdogs alternately.
- In low to medium heat with a bit of oil in a pan, place the skewers in. Allow to cook for 1-2 minutes until crispy. Do little taps to check the crispiness.
- Once crispy, brush the sauce into the rice cakes, garnish with sesame seeds, serve, and enjoy!
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