Making Tteokpokki from Scratch

Here are some ingredient recipes if you would like to make tteokpokki from scratch:

The simplest recipe for making tteokbokki tteok from scratch

If you prefer sleek cylinders, you may shape your dough using cannoli 

or other tube molds and cut the dough to your desired length. 

Anchovy-Dashima Stock via cHow Divine

어묵 or Fish Cakes via 뽀미

For flat fish cakes, you may try slightly baking or frying the mixture after rolling it into a flat sheet to get a solid texture before cooking in tteokpokki sauce. 

Here are some additional recipes for making tteokbokki:

Two chefs present Goongjoong (Royal Court) and Spicy Tteokpokki 

with a little background information about tteok and the dishes presented

The Goongjoong Tteokpokki has beef, eggs, and assorted vegetables.

The spicy version has boiled eggs and fish cakes.

Kochujang Tteokpokki with Fish Cakes via KFoodAddict (written recipe)

Adding cheese for a fusion option

어묵꼬치 떡볶이 or Fish Cake Skewer Tteokpokki via theboni

간장 떡볶이 or Soy Sauce Tteokpokki via Akides82

For more tteokpokki recipes and a background on the dish, you may refer to the post Tteokpokki (Revised May 8, 2012).

Posted by tastingkorea

Traditional Korean Cuisine

Han Style - Chapter on Hansik

In Korea, traditional Korean food is referred to as '한식' or hansik (pronounced 'hahn-shik'). According to Jang Eun-ju, a cuisine researcher at Han Style, "Hansik has developed in parallel with the changes of the Korean history and culture. Hansik is not only nutritious but also provides the joy of eating. And so, it is said that hansik is food that satisfies not only the mouth but the five senses, i.e. the senses of touch, sight, smell, taste and sound. The different color ingredients used to cook Korean foods satisfy the eyes. Korean foods taste delicious and smell good. Foods cooked using many different ingredients make interesting sounds when eating. The spoon and chopsticks allow for a delicate sense of touch. In other words, one can enjoy the beautiful colors and shapes of the dishes with their eyes and various tastes with their nose and mouth. Hansik allows diners to enjoy the pleasant sizzling sound when cooking bulgogi. It also provides diners with pleasant experiences that satisfy their sense of touch with lettuce wrapped rice."

Source: Gateway to Korea

an introduction to traditional Korean dishes, including royal court cuisine

Han Style - Cover

The Essence of Han Style

Cathlyn's Korean Food Challenge
Episode 7: Hansik Stories (Part 1)

An introduction to the heart of Korean cuisine

According to Han Style, the key principles of Korean cooking are/were*:

1. Main and side dishes were developed separately.

2. Spices and seasonings are used with fine detail, but in most cases, used similarly for each dish. (ie. There is a consistency to the way each dish is seasoned. - Tasting Korea)

3. Cut almost all ingredients beforehand as the cooking techniques are complicated.

4. The types of food are developed in a diverse manner according to their table setting.

5. There should be greater emphasis on the taste rather than the form of a dish.

* Translation of principles provided by Tasting Korea

Korean food can be divided into five categories (Han Style):

1. Royal Court Cuisine (궁중 음식)

2. Regional Foods (향토 음식)

3. Seasonal Foods (시절 음식)

4. Food for Special Occasions (의례 음식)

5. Buddhist Temple Cuisine (사찰 음식)

For a greater overview of traditional Korean cuisine, read "About Hansik" at Han Style and the Institute of Korean Royal Cuisine's articles on the "Overview of Korean Food" and "Seasonings and Style of Korean Food" as well as "Special Food for Special Occasions" and other articles in its series on "Traditional Korean Food Culture". A more extensive exploration of the history and culture of Korean traditional cuisine can be found in the "Food Culture" section of the Jeonbuk Food Culture Plaza site.

Seasonings Used in Korean Food

Institute of Korean Royal Cuisine

Chef Youngsun Lee explains the seasonal approach in cooking Korean food (Zen Kimchi):

"We are very seasonal. We have four seasons in Korea. So we do follow seasonal food, like, religiously. There are unwritten rules we have to follow as a Korean chefs:

• Spring — bitter (new sprouts, etc): This will bring our appetites back from the long winter. Also eating new sprouts means getting nature’s force — life, new life in spring — from the new life into our body.
• Summer — sour (vinegar base, citrus, etc): As the weather gets hot, we loose our [sense of] taste. So by having sour food, it brings our appetites [back] and also keeps our bod[ies] cool and moist.
• Fall — spicy (hot pepper, etc): Prepare for a long, cold winter. Pepper was introduced to Korea about 300 years ago. Before that, there was not much spicy food. All of our kimchi used be white. [배김치 (bae kimchi) is pickled but not spicy.]
• Winter — salty (kimchi, pickle, etc): Long-lasting food, such as fermented dishes are served to help in surviving winter. And we use “sweet” to balance all these flavors. But, again, sugar was introduced to Korea about 300 years ago, so before that we used to use honey or fruits for sweetener. Still till these days, we like to use honey or fruits for our sweetener instead of sugar."

All that Han! It's Uniquely Korean:

Traditional Korean Food

(Han Style)

This video focuses on Korean food and its spread to other countries like France, Japan, and the United States as well as the health benefits of Korean cuisine with a focus on the art of making kimchi, fermented bean paste, and soft tofu as well as soft tofu stew. Buddhist temple cuisine and its purpose as well as Korean cuisine's spread to New York in restaurants like Bann are also featured.

The Unity of Tradition and Nutrition: The Taste of Korean, Fermented Food

("Tourism" section of Korea.net)

A quick and vibrant introduction to Korean cuisine. Introduces the core influences on Korean cuisine and the main types of dishes as well as more extensive coverage of the science and tradition of kimchi and jang (장, a term that refers to a group of sauces comprised of red pepper and soybean paste as well as soy sauce). Korean table settings, food for special occasions/different seasons, and the value of using one's hands in Korean cooking are also featured. A crash introduction to Korean food.

In the following video, watch how ancient Korean cuisine has influenced and shaped the Korean food we know today.

Korea: Ancient Food, Modern World (Gourmet)

Posted by tastingkorea

Koreans Love to Mix It Up

Patbingsu or 팥빙수 via Maangchi

Seafood and Vegetables in Mustard Sauce or 양장피 잡채 via Migi's Kitchen

One distinct quality of Korean food is the number of dishes that involve mixing and stirring. You can see this in dishes like bibimbap (비빔밥, 'mixed rice'), bibim mandu (비빔만두, 'mixed dumplings'), and bibim guksu (비빔국수, 'mixed noodles') as well as deopbap (덮밥, 'covered rice') dishes and desserts like patbingsu. Korea is a food culture that loves to mix and stir things up. In fact, bibimbap was once called 골동반 (pronounced 'gohldoengbahn'), represented as 骨同飯 in hanja (Sino-Korean characters), containing the meaning 'to mix in a jumble' according to professor Choi Joon-Shik. The point of mixing it up is to meld the flavors of each ingredient so that the resulting dish brings out the combined and individual flavors of each ingredient (Choi). There is something about this fusion that manifests the collective psyche of Koreans in such a magnificent way. Each ingredient is added for the unique contribution it brings to the flavor of the dish, but then, all ingredients are combined to bring out the collective flavor of the whole (Choi), a wonderful mishmash of different textures and flavors. This fusion of diverse ingredients creates a dynamism that cannot be achieved by individual ingredients alone. It is this complexity of textures and flavors that creates the richness and depth that stimulate and tantalize the tastebuds. It is through this potpourri that one can see the rich and dynamic spirit of Korean people and culture, the sense of oneness or uri (우리, 'us') mentality that is characteristic of the people and the passion that can be seen in many Koreans, our movies, and our dramas. Koreans really love a deep and hearty flavor known as 고소한 맛 (pronounced 'gosohahn maht') and bibim dishes do an excellent job of bringing that out.

Here are some wonderful examples of the mixing that Korean dishes are known for:

Bibim Naengmyeon or 비빔냉면 via 무지개의 달콤한 세상

Bibim Mandu or 비빔만두 via Misty Yoon

Dolsot Bibimbap or 돌솥 비빔밥 via My Epikorean

Bibim Guksu or 비빔국수 via Beyond Kimchee

Bibim Guksu (and the many ways to prepare it) or 비빔국수

via One Fork, One Spoon

Bibimbap or 비빔밥 via Eating and Living

Nalchi Ahl and Hwe Over Rice or 날치알 생선회덮밥 via 햇살이

(Nalchi Ahl - 'flying fish roe' ; Hwe - 'raw fish')

Posted by tastingkorea

Korean Cooking Videos on Youtube!

There are some wonderful videos demonstrating the art of cooking Korean food on Youtube. Here are some great channels in English:

1) Maangchi has the best videos for cooking Korean food in regards to accessiblity and ease of follow-through. She holds your hand gently as she guides you in the kitchen.

2) Aeri's Kitchen is also user-friendly with her simple, step-by-step instructions. Her vibrant palate and fresh presentation will appeal to many viewers.

3) PS8 is an online collaboration between O'ngo Food Communications, a company specializing in Korean cooking classes and food tours, and several Korea bloggers. The youtube channel features videos by Jia Choi, a Korean food consultant and writer, as well as other food professionals from O'ngo. She clearly explains the background behind each dish as well as the why's of how it is cooked.

4) K-Food Addict is by Chloe Lim, a Korean woman living in Australia. She was inspired to blog after seeing her friends enjoy Korean food very much. Her videos feature a few recipes from the blog, presenting each dish in a clear and friendly manner.

5) 506knot's Kitchen features recipes from around the world, but their video for japchae is a gem. This Korean dish is presented in very thorough detail. I look forward to seeing more Korean recipes on their channel.

6) Phoebe's Cafe is the channel of Phoebe Chung, a Korean woman living in Hong Kong. It features recipes from all over as well as those from her English language blog on Korean cooking, Phoebe's Kitchen. Her videos provide a quick and easy visual guide to Korean cooking.

7) Korean Cuisine is a channel created by Anna Kim, an elegant Korean mother. She presents classic Korean dishes with a refined touch.

8) 86jomiri or 86조미리 ('seasoning' in Korean) focuses on the preparation of Korean ingredients with a high level of precision.

Posted by tastingkorea