Foodie Goodie | Instant Tteokbokki (Korean Spicy Rice Cake).

Tteokbokki or topokki (others refer to this as ddukbeokki) is a dish made by sauteing cylindrical rice cakes (tteok) in red pepper paste (kochujang). It's a very popular snack in Korea, and can be bought in restaurants, street carts, and even convenience stores.

I've seen all sorts of tteokbokki from all the Korean dramas and variety shows that I've watched. There's haemool tteokbokki, which is made with seafood: jjajang tteokbokki, which is made with black bean sauce, and then there's rapokki - tteokbokki with ramen noodles. But I've always been curious with the traditional tteokbokki - the one in spicy red sauce.

Luckily, I chanced upon some instant tteokbokki while I was at the supermarket yesterday. Without thinking twice, I grabbed a pack, together with a pack of instant jjajangmyun which I will be sharing in a different post.

Yopokki - instant tteokbokki!

This 320 gram pack of Yopokki serves two, and sells for Php 164. I did a bit of research and found out that this brand is manufactured by OK Food of Korea. This instant tteokbokki also comes in 200 gram bowls similar to that of cup noodles, though there were none available at the local supermarket.

Yopokki from OK Food.

Cooking is a breeze. Simply put the tteok (rice cakes) in a saucepan, add 100 mL of water, and let it boil for five minutes.

Tteok + kochujang. :)

Add the spicy sauce once it starts boiling, and let it simmer for another two minutes before serving.

Tteokbokki in a flash! 

So how do I find this instant tteokbokki?
It's pretty good, although I can't really compare it with the regular tteokbokki since I haven't tried one yet. The tteok is soft and chewy, and the sauce is sweet, salty, and spicy all at the same time. The spiciness stands out, but it's not too overwhelming. For someone who is not a big fan of spicy food (yes, that's me) the spiciness of this one is tolerable.

I'm thinking of buying another pack next time and try to amp the dish up by adding ramen and hard-boiled eggs. Heol, I am being ambitious after a first successful attempt at the instant kind. Haha!

How about you, have you tried tteokbokki before? :)

Shared with Food Friday and Food Trip Friday.