If anyone asks what my favorite Korean dish is, one of them is toppoki, sautéed rice cake and fish cake with spicy sauce. It is one of very popular stand food in Korea, or we eat as part of a meal. Whenever I go to Korean place to eat, my friend always wants to order it, and I am always tempted, too. However, it costs the cheapest around 10 dollars including tax, which is a lot more than it is worth. The ingredients are pretty simple only if you have those Korean seasoning, and it is very easy to make. So I always convince my friend that it is not worth to order it and that we will make it our own next time. Also, as one of my reader requested, thanks for reading by the way, I am going to share my recipe today!
Before we start, there’s one thing that I want to mention about Korean recipe. As you will be in my recipe, the ingredients and the instructions can be very vague though I tried to make mine as more understandable for Americans. In a lot of Korean recipes, it doesn’t tell you exactly how much ingredients you put in or how long you should cook. Instead, it will say “a little bit of something”, or “cook it a while”. We don’t use measuring cups or spoons. When it says cups or spoons, it doesn’t mean those measured ones but just like regular cups and spoons that we use at home. It may change the taste, but we believe that we follow instinct, which is called in Korean “the taste of hand”.
Sautéed Rice Cake & Fish Cake with Spicy Sauce (Serving about 2)
Rice cake 20 pieces, Instant ramen noodle, fish cake 2 pieces, 1/2 onion, 1/2 carrots, 1 stalk green onion, laminaria japonica broth
Red pepper paste 2 spoons, red pepper powder 1 spoon, corn syrup 1 spoon, sugar 1 spoon; chopped garlic 1/2 spoon, instant ramen powder ½ spoon
Usually, if you buy the rice cake at the market, those are pretty hard. So put those in a bowl with some water and microwave it for about 2-3 minutes until the rice cake gets soften.
Cut the fish cake and vegetable to bite size. You can add any other vegetable if you would like. Usually, cabbage goes really well with this dish.
You don’t have to make broth if it is too much work for you or if you don’t have laminaria japonica. In Korea, dried laminaria japonica is very common ingredient and we use it a lot for many kinds of dishes’ soup base. (If you go to Asian market, you can find a bag of dried laminaria japonica easily.) To make the broth for this dish, boil the dried laminaria japonica in 5 cups of water for about 10 minutes (the longer the better) and take it out. In the picture, I also put a piece fish cake for better taste, but it is also optional.
When the water starts boiling, put all the sauce prepared and boil it for a little bit.
Put rice cake, onions, and carrots until almost cooked.
Put the rest of the ingredients until everything is cooked completely.
By this time, the sauce will be much thickened and sautéed. If not, you may want to leave it on low heat until it gets thickened. Now, it is time to eat delicious rice cake & fish cake with spicy sauce! (It is called “toppoki” in Korean.) Yum!! J
I hope that it turns out okay if you try to make it and enjoy the spiciness of Korean food!
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