Gungjung Tteokbokki. It's a non-spicy variation of Tteokbokki that many people don't know about. But it's actually the original style that was served to the Korean King during the Joseon Dynasty. It was only much later - after gochujang was invented - when Tteokbokki turned red and spicy. So today, let's go back into time and make the classic version.
Gungjung Tteokbokki is flavored with soy-sauce (it's about savoriness, rather than spice and heat). Now, the key step is to make sure that the rice cakes and beef slices get enough flavor inside them. The best way to ensure this is to marinate them separately - before stir-frying.
For the beef slices, we will marinate them in a bulgogi-type sauce. And for the rice cakes, we will blanche and toss them in soy sauce and sesame oil. This results in balanced flavor, in every bite...
If you partner or child doesn't can't do spice, this is an excellent alternative to Spicy Tteokbokki. Enjoy and let me know how you like the recipe!
Dan-yul out 🕺
Ingredients
- Korean rice cakes Tteok - 30 pieces
- Thinly sliced beef shabu shabu cuts - 300 g
- Onion - 1 whole
- Carrot - ½ a whole
- Green Bell pepper - 1 whole
- Shiitake Mushrooms - 3
- Spring Onion - small piece length of your forearm
Beef Marinade
- Soy Sauce - 2 Tablespoons
- Sugar - 1 Tablespoon
- Mirim - 1 Tablespoon
- Minced Garlic - ½ Tablespoon
- Sesame Oil - 1 Tablespoon
- Black Pepper - few shakes
- Sesame seeds - few shakes
Rice Cake (Tteok) Marinade
- Soy Sauce - 1 Tablespoon
- Sesame Oil - 1 Tablespoon
Marinade for Stir-fry
- Water - ⅓ cup
- Oyster Sauce - 1 Tablespoon
- Soy Sauce - 1 Tablespoon
- Sugar - 1 Tablespoon
- Honey - 1 Tablespoon
- Sesame Oil - 1 Tablespoon
Instructions
Preparations
- Put beef slices in a mixing bowl. Then marinate with: Soy Sauce (2T), Sugar (1T), Mirim (1T), Minced Garlic (½T), Sesame Oil (1T), Black Pepper (few shakes) and Sesame Seeds (few shakes). Put on a glove and mix all the aromatic ingredients thoroughly. Set the meat aside and let it marinate for 10 minutes.
- Prep veggies: Chop Shiitake Mushrooms, Onion, Carrot, Green Bell Pepper and Spring Onion into thin strips.
- Fill a large pot with water. Bring up to boil. Put a few squeezes of oil into the water (so the rice cakes don't stick). Then add your rice cakes (tteok) into the boiling water for 1 minute. Then strain the rice cakes and let them drip-off the excess water.
- Place the blanched rice cakes into a mixing bowl. Then place in Soy Sauce (1T) and Sesame Oil (1T). Coat the rice cakes evenly.
Make Gungjung Tteokbokki
- Place frying pan on medium-high heat. Place oil in. Once hot, add onions. Stir-fry until onions turn translucent.
- Then add beef slices one-by-one into the frying pan. Separate each piece so that they don't clump with each other.
- Once the beef loses most of its red color, add in the sliced Carrots and Mushrooms. Stir-around for 30 seconds.
- Next, add water (⅓ cup) to the stir-fry. Stir-around.
- Then add in the rice cakes.
- Add Oyster Sauce (1T), Soy Sauce (1T), Sugar (1T) and Honey (1T) to the mixture. Stir-fry everything together.
- Now, add Bell Pepper and Spring Onion pieces to the stir-fry.
- Once the Bell Peppers get soft, turn off the heat.
- Garnish with Sesame Oil (1T) and give one last stir. And top-off with Sesame Seeds (few shakes).
Notes
- If you're vegetarian, you can replace the sliced beef with sliced button mushrooms.
- See video below for more details
Mrs.Alyss says
Question, can I use stew meat for the beef?
Ariel says
Absolutely delicious! I made it tonight for dinner and my partner and I both loved it.
I will definitely make it again and maybe add a little gochugaru for some spice.
Natalia says
I made this tonight for dinner and it was so delicious!!! I tried several tteokbokki recipies but this one is a topnotch!!! My kids, and even my picky husband loved it very much!!! Thank you for this wonderful recipe.
Nina says
Thank goodness! I discovered ttdokbokki recently and I loved it. However I cannot each spicy foods. (I'm allergic and it inflames my eczema) So it's been very hard to find a non-spicy version. My next step is finding a good local place that does this for takeout. 🙂
Femke says
I made this for my family. We all loved it, so tasty! Thanks for the recipe!