I’ve definitely been neglecting my duties as a culinary ambassador (aka clueless whitesplainer), so I’m reaching into the photo album archives to bring up this classic snack food: tteokbokki (떡볶이). I’ve only had it the one time so far, but I have found myself craving it more and more over the past week. Chewy “rice cakes” in a spicy sweet sauce, how can you do any better? Maybe by adding some oden (오뎅, borrowed from Japanese, but meaning “fishcakes” here). The square guys in the picture have a chewy tofu texture with a mild fishy flavor. They are usually served on skewers and you can ask for a bowl of the “soup” to drink on the side.
I briefly introduced 떡 (tteok) on the travel blog when I had a “traditional” tteok soup for the lunar new years. While you can buy bags of sliced tteok from supermarkets, its the tteokbokki format that is sold in every night market and street corner. 볶이 (bokki) means “stir-fried,” which feels like a misnomer, as they are usually just hanging around simmering in the oh-so spicy, oh-so delicious sauce. You’ll also see 볶 on the menu of small snack shops for fried rice (볶음밥, bokkeumbap).