Dduk Bokki

Did you know Koreans have a specific word for snacks that are eaten while drinking alcohol (specifically soju or Korean beer)? The word “An-ju” describes such a category. The Korean dish, dduk bokki, is especially enjoyed during or after a drinking session. Known quite often as a street food, dduk bokki is a spicy, carb-filled dish that works wonders on a hangover, or simply filling your mouth with a deliciously spicy flavor that keeps you reaching your chopsticks for more (and reaching for multiple sips of water). This simple dish of course can be eaten sans alcohol. Just make sure to have a glass of water handy because it can get spicy!

Dduk Bokki

[Photo from Flickr user "burls"]


Servings: 2-3
What you need: Skillet or Wok
Preparation time: 5-10 mins
Cooking time: 10-15 mins

Ingredients:
2 cups of white rice cake sticks

2 sheets of fish cake

6 oz of ground beef

¼ cup of chopped green onion (optional)

1 cup of sliced onion

½ Tbsp of chopped/minced garlic

1 Tbsp of kochujang (Korean red chili bean paste)

1 ½ Tbsp of sugar

2 Tbsp of soy sauce

1 Tbsp of sesame oil

2 Tbsp of cooking oil

¼ Tbsp of roasted sesame seed

3-4 cups of water

Directions:

1. Heat up the wok or skillet in medium high on the stove
2. Add 2 tbsp of cooking oil
3. Pour sliced rice cake into the pan and coat oil over the rice cake and fry them for 1-2 minutes
4. Make the paste in a bowl by mixing kochujang, soy sauce, sugar, garlic and sesame oil
5. Add the paste in the pan and mix with the rice cake
6. Add ground beef and ½ cup of onion and mix all the ingredients for 1 minute then cover the pan with a lid
7. Slice the fish cake into squares and add them into the pan with remaining ½ cup of onion
8. Pour water into the pan and stir
9. Cover the lid and cook the ingredients for additional 3-4 minutes
10. Stir the ingredients once more and then add chopped green onion
11. Cover and boil the ingredients simmer in medium low heat for another minute or until the rice cakes have softened
12. Place dduk bokki onto a plate and sprinkle sesame seed over before serving

Useful Tips:
• Against what it says on the packaging, you don’t have to soak the rice cake in water for 2-3 hours. The key is to pan fry the rice cake in oil first. This will also prevent the rice cakes from getting mushy when overcooked or getting hardened when cooled.
• For vegetarians you don’t have to use beef and still enjoy delicious dduk bokki
• Other ingredient that is commonly used for dduk bokki is sliced carrots
• If you like noodles, you can add ramen noodles in the pan after step 9. Just add enough water to cook the noodles! Dduk-lahm-bokki!

Enjoy!

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Cathlyn Choi
Host/Producer, Cathlyn’s Korean Kitchen
Cathlyn’s 3 C Rule – Cost, Convenience and Creativity