duk bok ki

[melonpan]

today i bought some ddeok bc i wanted to have some ddeokbokki tonight.

<center><img src="http://www.rawbw.com/~coconut/eg/04/041021ddeokBefore.jpg"></center>

here they usually have really fresh stuff no matter when i drop by the grocery.

when i got home, i decided to check what was written here about the topic and i was not let down:

1. Gochujang (the Korean red chili paste) based sauce. This results in a sweet but slightly heavy tasting sauce that tastes unmistakably like gochujang. From what I have been able to observe at the ubiquitous street carts in Seoul that sell dukbokki, the gochujang is mixed with clear corn syrup and MSG derived beef flavoring powder and water (or water from boiled oden).

2.  Gochugaru (dried red chili powder) based sauce.  Finely ground Korean red chili powder is mixed with clear corn syrup and MSG derived beef flavoring powder and water (or water from boiled oden).  This results in a very hot and clean tasting sauce.

intriguing. i didnt know ppl made this without gochujang.

but mulyeot (aka corn syrup or malt syrup)... i have an unrational fear of mulyeot (dont have any!) and i dont use it and when its important to the dish, i just dont make the dish. but if i had known about this post, i would have gotten that mulyeot today.

anyhow...

these ddeoks are quite delicious when fresh. very soft, just a tiniest bit salty and deeply satisfyingly chewly. i ate three pieces and left it on the counter to cook up later on. when my husband came home, i gave him the package since they were still deliciously soft. i told him to eat just a couple pieces because i wanted to cook them up later.

i went back a little later to his desk and this is what i found:

<center><img src="http://www.rawbw.com/~coconut/eg/04/041021ddeokAfter.jpg"></center>

ack! we will have considerably less ddeokbokki than planned.

[torakris]

last night

with red onions and nira (garlic chives)

[Joon]

okay, i hope i got the romanization right...this is the korean dish made up of long, thin rice cakes in hot bean paste. There is a Korean noraebang place near me that makes an absolutely perfect version of this dish (at least to my taste), but me not being Korean, I'm unsure as to the true way to make it. Too often, mine either comes out too watery or too spicy. I'm not sure if I'm missing ingredients either, but I typically use the rice cakes, hot bean paste, water, and sugar...I have tried, at a Korean friend's suggestion, adding cabbage a few times...Any other ingredients needed? Any tips as to proportions of each ingredient? Thanks!

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Cabbage and scallions are a must. A little gochu garu or some times soy sauce won't hurt either. The key to a tasty duk boki though in my opinion is adding ramen or other noodles to it. :D A bit of the ramen packet helps too.

Speaking of duk boki, I have yet to find a place in the US that makes it like they did back in Korea. The last time I visited Korea I hit up my favorite duk boki joint as soon as I got off the plane!!

[Kiem Hwa]

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skchai, can I ask where you bought these tteok from? This looks exactly like the noodles I ate in Shanghai, I was trying to identify them in the China thread:

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=64791

Edited May 13, 2005 by Kiem Hwa (log)

[Kiem Hwa]

Nevermind....I found it....I went to Palama Gorcery store for the first time today.... what a fun store! Im going to try out your recipe skchai!

[Soup]

The pictures of both look good (long vs. ovel). The recipe use in my family is slightly different. When we make it, we use no meat. For the sauce we use kimchi and kimchi juice with a bit of kochu jang (sugar, sesame oil, etc). I like the kimchi base better. I also go heavy on the sugar (not really sweet like candy) but a bit more sweet than the recipe above have called for.

Soup

[Kiem Hwa]

This is the tteokbokki I made following skchai's recipe (for the most part). I added in some tofu, and put a bit too much meat.

It was a winner! Everyone loved it and want it often now