Spicy Korean Rice Cake Stir-Fry

I have a weakness in Korean style rice cakes. Those chewy sticky rice cakes are belly satisfying and so delicious, I can eat the entire pan of Korean rice cakes by myself if I let myself into. The most common and popular Korean rice cakes are called “tteokppoki (떡볶이)”, which you can find its recipe easily online or elsewhere. Those rice cakes are made with rice cake sticks and simmered in spicy Korean chili paste sauce with anchovy stock. It is the traditional dish and tasty, of course. However….

Here is one dish that I created for you to try. The spicy Korean rice cake stir-fry!!! It is simply tasty and easy to cook. You don’t need the anchovy stock. These spicy rice cakes are stir-fried with some vegetables so that you can be proud of yourself eating something healthy. Also this spicy rice cake stir-fry uses the thin rice cake rounds instead of the sticks so they cook faster.

The quick and easy spicy rice cake stir-fry is surely pleasing and you will be surprised how tasty they are. Follow these 3 easy steps.

Prepare the rice cakes

Bring the water to a boil, add the rice cake rounds and cook until they float to the top.

Drain the rice cakes and coat them with oils. I used a mixture of wild sesame oil and grapeseed oil. You can use any cooking oil. If you don’t like the fragrance of sesame oir wild sesame oil, you can omit them.

The reason you will want to coat the rice cake rounds is so that they don’t stick to each other. These rounds are very sticky once cooked and they tend to stick to the pan when you want to stir-fry them. By coating them with oil, you can prevent them to not to stick to the pan.

Prepare the soy chili sauce

Mix all the sauce ingredients in a bowl.

Stir-fry all together

Heat a little bit of oil in a skillet, add the vegetables and stir-fry until crisp tender. Add the rice cakes and stir-fry for another 1-2 minutes.

Add the sauce, chives and mix well.

Continue to stir-fry until everything is incorporated, about 2 minutes.

  I like to add some fresh chili to add the extra spicy kick to it. I also love the gentle fragrance from the wild sesame oil.

I like the simplicity of this spicy rice cake stir-fry. The chewy yet soft texture is something that I often crave for and the spiciness level is perfect for me. If you want the less or more spicy, you can always adjust the amount of chili flakes according to you taste. I also love the crunchiness that cabbage adds. Hope you can give it a try.

~ Holly

Spicy Rice Cake Stir-Fry

Holly Ford

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Prep Time 10 mins

Cook Time 10 mins

Total Time 20 mins

Ingredients

  

• 1 lb rice cake rounds
• 1 tbsp wild sesame oil
• 2 tbsp cooking oil divided
• 1/2 small onion sliced
• 1/4 green cabbage thinly sliced
• 1-2 garlic cloves minced
• 1/4 cup sliced Asian chives
• 1 fresh chili sliced (optional)
• 3 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp corn syrup
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1-2 tbsp Korean chili flakes
• 1 tbsp sweet rice wine
• dashes black pepper
• 2 tsp roasted sesame seeds

Instructions

 

• Bring a pot of water to boil. Add the rice cakes and boil until the they float to the top, about 2-3 minutes. Drain the rice cake and put them in mixing bowl. Add the wild sesame oil and 1 tablespoon of cooking oil; toss them well.
• In a small bowl, mix together soy sauce, corn syrup, sugar chili flakes, rice wine, and pepper. Set aside.
• Heat the remaining oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Add the onion, cabbage, and garlic; stir-fry for 2 minutes. Add the rice cakes and continue to stir-fry for another 1 minute.
• Add the soy sauce mixture, chives, and chili (if using)to the skillet and toss well; continue to stir-fry for another minute or until everything is well incorporated. Sprinkle with the sesame seeds and serve immediately.