Korean Sliced Rice Cake Food

TTEOKBOKKI - SPICY STIR-FRIED RICE CAKES

Steps:

• Soak the rice cakes for about 20 minutes (can be longer for refrigerated rice cakes).
• Cut the fish cake, cabbage, and scallions into about 2-inch long pieces.
• To a large pan, add the dried anchovies, dried kelp, and onion along with 5 cups of water. Bring it to a boil over medium high heat, and continue to boil for 10 minutes. Reduce it close to medium if your heat is very high. Remove the anchovies, dasima and onion from the broth.
• Add the sauce ingredients to the pan, stirring to dissolve the red chili pepper paste (gochujang).
• Add the rice cakes. Boil until the rice cakes become very soft and the sauce is thickened, about 8 - 10 minutes. This can take longer, depending on your rice cakes. Stir frequently so the rice cakes don't stick to the bottom of the pan.
• Drop the vegetables, garlic, and fish cakes in. Continue to boil, stirring occasionally, for an additional 4 - 6 minutes. Depending on rice cakes, you may need more time to reach a desired level of softness. Add more broth or water as necessary. Drop in the scallions and boiled eggs with 2 to 3 minutes remaining. Taste the sauce, and adjust the seasoning if needed. Serve hot.

GARAETTEOK (RICE CAKE RECIPE)

Steps:

• Rinse 2.5 cups of rice (short grain rice or medium grain rice, e.g. sushi rice, 535 grams / 1.17 pounds) until the water drains clear. Put the rice in a medium sized bowl and fill the bowl with some water. Soak it overnight or for 12 hours.
• Strain the water away and air dry the rice for 1 hour. (The weight of the rice will increase to roughly 697 grams / 1.53 pounds.)
• Grind the rice finely in a powerful food processor until the rice turns into fine powder. (You will have to stop and move around the rice flour with a scraper as it grinds. Otherwise, some rice flour and particles will stick to the wall of the processor and won't get ground. The whole grinding process will take about 6 mins.
• Sift the rice flour into a clean bowl in two or three lots. (It sifts better when you do it in smaller quantities.) Remove any clumps or unground rice grains. When the rice flour is sifted once, sift it one more time. If you ended up with too much unground rice grains, put them back into the food processor and grind them again until you get the fine rice flour. This should result in about 4.5 cups of rice flour.
• Combine rice flour, cornstarch, fine salt and 1/4 cups of boiling water in a microwave safe bowl. Mix them well. Add another 1/4 cups of boiling water and mix them again. (The rice cake mixture should be smooth and easy to stir, not hard like cookie dough.)
• Cover the bowl with cling wrap, leaving a little gap for steam to escape. Put the bowl into a microwave and heat it up for about 2 minutes (based on 1250W microwave).
• Take the bowl out and add 1/4 cups of the remaining boiling water. Cover the bowl again and return the bowl to the microwave and heat it up for a further 1 minute and 30 seconds. Remove the bowl from the microwave.
• Cover the cutting board with a silicone baking mat or a few layers of cling wrap to prevent rice cake sticking onto it while shaping the rice cake. Carefully remove the rice cake dough from the bowl and place it on the mat.
• Put a pair of thick cotton gloves (layer 1) and food safe gloves (layer 2) on top on your hands. (This is because rice cake dough will be very hot to touch.). Knead the rice cake dough. Pound it with a pestle for about 5 mins to give the rice cake a nice elastic texture.
• Combine rice flour, cornstarch, fine salt and 2/3 cups of boiling water in a bowl. Mix them well.
• Cover the steamer with baking paper or a clean tea towel and place the rice flour mixture on top. Close the lid and steam it for 20 minutes over high heat.
• Cover the cutting board with a silicone baking mat or a few layers of cling wrap to prevent rice cake sticking onto it while shaping the rice cake. Carefully place the steamed rice cake dough on the mat.
• Put a pair of thick cotton gloves (layer 1) and food safe gloves (layer 2) on top on your hands. (This is because rice cake dough will be very hot to touch.). Knead the rice cake dough. Pound it with a pestle for about 5 mins to give the rice cake a nice elastic texture.
• Divide the rice cake dough evenly into 5 pieces.
• Drop the 1/2 tsp of sesame oil on to your palm and gently rub onto the rice cakes.
• Roll the rice cake into 1 - 1.5 cm /0.4 - 0.6 inch diameter cylinder shaped rice cake and cut both ends.
• Cut the main part of the rice cake into 6 cm/4 inch long pieces (about little finger size). Now you have the rice cake ready to use in tteokbokki or other stir fry dishes.
• Divide the rice cake dough evenly into 2 pieces.
• Drop the 1/2 tsp of sesame oil on to your palm and gently rub onto the rice cakes.
• Roll the rice cake into 2 - 3 cm/0.8 - 1.2 inch diameter cylinder shaped rice cakes.
• Place the rice cakes on a large plate and cover with cling wrap. Refrigerate it for about 1 hour to harden it for easier slicing. However, if you are in a rush, you can still slice the rice cake soon after shaping it.
• Slice thinly (about 0.5 cm / 0.2 inch thickness) and diagonally like oval shapes. Now you have the rice cake ready to use in your rice cake soup.

KOREAN RICE CAKE STIR-FRY

Steps:

• Combine the shiitakes, garlic, 3 tablespoons soy sauce, 1 tablespoon sesame oil and the sugar in a large bowl. Add the beef and toss to coat well; set aside.
• Bring a large pot of water to a boil over medium-high heat. Add the rice cakes and cook, stirring to prevent sticking, until softened, about 1 minute. Drain and transfer to a large bowl; toss with 1 tablespoon sesame oil and the remaining 1 teaspoon soy sauce.
• Heat the vegetable oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion, carrot and zucchini; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, until just tender, about 5 minutes. Add the vegetables to the bowl with the rice cakes.
• Add the shiitakes and beef to the empty skillet and cook, undisturbed, until browned, 1 to 2 minutes. Flip over to finish cooking the other side, about 1 more minute.
• Return the vegetables and rice cakes to the skillet. Drizzle with the remaining 1 tablespoon sesame oil and toss well to combine. Season with salt and pepper.

SPICY KOREAN RICE CAKES (TTEOKBOKKI)

Steps:

• Soak tteok in cold water to cover while preparing the other ingredients, about 10 minutes. Drain on paper towels.
• Combine beef with soy sauce, 1 teaspoon sesame oil and garlic.
• Heat a wok or skillet over high heat until very hot. Add beef mixture and stir-fry just until lightly browned, 1 minute. Add onion, scallions, and cabbage, if using, and stir-fry until crisp-tender, 2 to 3 minutes.
• Add gochujang and mix. Add about 1/3 cup water, remaining teaspoon sesame oil, sugar and tteok. Mix and let simmer until sauce is thick and tteok is soft, adding water a little at a time as needed. Adjust seasonings with sugar and gochujang.
• Mix in scallions and serve hot, sprinkled with sesame seeds.