Korean Food History and Culture (Draft)

Slice fish cake sheet into bite

sizes

Add 2 cups of water, gochujang,

brown sugar and soy sauce to a

pan and let it boil

Rinse rice cakes with cold water

, add to pan when sauce boils

Stir gently for 5 - 10 minutes, add

fish cake

Add sesame oil when rice cake

expands and becomes soft

Ingredients ( 1 serving):

2 cups of rice cakes

1 sheet of fish cake

1 tablespoon of gochujang

1 tablespoon of brown sugar

1 tablespoon of soy sauce

1 tablespoon of sesame oil

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Spicy rice cakes, also called tteok-
bokki, is a cuisine created through
the process of evolution. The origin
of rice cakes traces back to the
Chosun Dynasty during the mid 19 th
Century. In an ancient recipe book
called Si Eui Jeon Seo （시의전서）,
the first recorded recipe that
involved the use of rice cakes was
named Gungjung Tteokokki. The
phrase Gungjung translates to
Palace, and this shows how the dish
was once considered as a luxury as it
was only enjoyed by the King and
other high government authorities.

However, the dish evolved and
became more widespread ever since
the United States and South Korea
passed the Mutual Security Act of
1951. The United States provided
South Korea with a plethora of food
surpluses and agricultural products,
one of which being rice flour. The
great supply of rice flour decreased
the rate of rice production in South
Korea, thereby changing the Korean
diet from rice-based to flour-based.
To adapt to the change in the
community, civilians made a new type
of rice cake with flour as it was more
accessible.

The most iconic version of the dish
was only created in the 1960 s with
the addition of gochu-jang.
Gochujang is a paste made with
Korean hot chilli and red chilli
powder. Nowadays, spicy rice cakes
are seen everywhere in the streets of
Korea, and it became one of the most
significant and popular delivery
snacks among all generations.

RECIPE