Gungjung Tteokbokki

4.62 from 36 votes

A royal court rice cake banchan from the Joseon Dynasty.

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.

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).

If you're vegetarian, you can replace the sliced beef with sliced button mushrooms.
See video below for more details