Tteokbokki (spicy rice cakes)
떡볶이 Tteokbokki
Chewy rice cakes simmered in a sweet, spicy red sauce.
- Stir-fried Rice Cake
- Spice: Medium
- Contains seafood
At a glance
| Fact | Details |
|---|---|
| Main ingredients | Rice cakes (rice or wheat flour), chili paste (gochujang), fish cakes |
| How it's served | Hot on a plate or in a shallow pan, often with fish cakes and sometimes a boiled egg |
| Spice level | Medium — Clearly spicy. You'll want water nearby. |
| Diet | Contains seafood — Fish, shellfish, fish sauce, salted seafood (jeotgal) or anchovy stock is a standard ingredient. |
| Allergens | Wheat · Soy · Fish |
| Ask about | Cheese, instant noodles and boiled eggs are common add-ons; the broth is often anchovy-based. |
| On the menu | 떡볶이 (Tteokbokki) |
| Also called | topokki · ddukbokki · ddeokbokki · dukbokki · spicy rice cakes |
| Region | Nationwide |
Based on the usual recipe. Restaurants vary, so always tell the staff.
How to eat Stir-fried Rice Cake
Pick up a rice cake
Stalls often give you a toothpick or small fork, and tables have chopsticks. The rice cakes come hot, so take small bites.
Dip other snacks in the sauce
Many stalls also sell fried snacks (twigim) and sundae. People often dip them in the tteokbokki sauce.
Finish with fried rice
At sit-down places that cook it at your table, you can often order rice fried in the leftover sauce.
How to order it
Order it as 떡볶이. Stalls and snack shops sell single servings, so one person can order it alone, and it is often shared.
- On the menu: 떡볶이
- Usually sold: 1 serving
Where it comes from
In the Joseon Dynasty, tteokbokki meant rice cakes stir-fried with soy sauce-marinated beef. The royal family and upper classes ate it. The red chili-paste version appeared after the Korean War, though accounts of its origin differ. US flour aid in the 1950s and a 1960s grain-mixing campaign helped make it an everyday dish.
Sources: Korean Food Promotion Institute (hansik.or.kr) · VisitKorea (english.visitkorea.or.kr)
Questions about Stir-fried Rice Cake
Is tteokbokki vegetarian?
Usually not. Tteokbokki sauce is often made with anchovy stock and served with fish cakes. If you avoid seafood, ask the restaurant.
How spicy is tteokbokki?
Medium. The red chili-paste sauce is clearly spicy, with some sweetness. Some places also sell a soy sauce version with no chili heat.
What is the difference between tteokbokki and rabokki?
Rabokki adds ramyeon. It is tteokbokki with instant ramyeon noodles cooked in the same sauce, and many snack shops sell both.
- By Jason Kim (Bumsoo)
- Last reviewed October 10, 2026