Tteokbokki 🌶️

Méthode

1. 1

   Soak dry rice cakes in cold water for 20 minutes so they heat through evenly instead of cracking; fresh ones need only a rinse.

2. 2

   Build the base stock: simmer a handful of dried anchovies and a piece of kelp in water for 10 minutes, then fish them out — instant dashi powder is the accepted cheat.

3. 3

   Dissolve gochujang, gochugaru, sugar, soy sauce and a spoon of corn syrup into the simmering stock; taste now and make it bolder than you think, it clings to bland rice cakes.

4. 4

   Add the rice cakes in a single layer and simmer, stirring often so the sauce glazes instead of scorching, for 8 to 10 minutes until thick and glossy.

5. 5

   Tuck folded sheets of fish cake into the gaps in the last 3 minutes — they should swell with sauce, not disintegrate.

6. 6

   When the sauce coats each cake like lacquer, scatter green onion, settle halved boiled eggs on top and finish with sesame seeds; eat immediately, while the chew is at its peak.