Break Out the Slow Cooker for These Weeknight Dinners

Easy Korean Vegetarian Spicy Rice Cakes (tteokbokki)

Tteokbokki, also spelt ddeokbokki (and many other variations), is a Korean dish of simmered rice cakes. There are many versions, including the rather luxurious, non-spicy "royal tteokbokki", which can have almost as many other ingredients (vegetables and beef or seafood) as rice cakes (tteok).

At the other end of the scale is the more familiar street-food version, which has lots of rice cakes swimming in a spicy sauce, sometimes with a few small pieces of onion or fish cake. Its vendors tend to set up along streets with lots of bars and nightclubs, because tteokbokki is great for tempering the effects of alcohol.

Tteokbokki with quail's eggs instead of meat or seafood makes a delicious, hearty vegetarian meal. The most difficult part of this dish is peeling the hard-boiled quail's eggs – the shells have a maddening tendency to stick. If you can't be bothered, or want a vegan version, omit the eggs and substitute deep-fried gluten puffs (cut in half) or sliced deep-fried tofu.

Rice cakes are often sold in the refrigerated section of supermarkets. Buy the cylinder-shaped tteok, not the sliced ones. You might need to make a trip to the Korean market to find some of the ingredients for this dish - not just the rice cakes, but also zucchini (the Korean type is smoother and more tender than Italian zucchini), gochujang (chilli paste) and gochugaru (chilli flakes).

Yuksu bags or dashi bags look like tea bags, and make an instant broth. Be sure to buy a vegetarian version, which is made with vegetables and/or mushrooms. They are sold in the Korean or Japanese sections of supermarkets.

Vegetarians or vegans should check with the vendor when buying the banchan to serve with the rice cakes – some include shellfish or fish sauce.

Don't Know Much About Korean Cuisine?

Rochester restaurateur Sammi Loo is well-known for the variety of ethnic restaurants she owns in town. While the history of her eateries goes back quite a ways, she currently owns four restaurants in town.

First, there's Otori Sushi, a Japanese eatery known for its sushi, (2665 Commerce Drive). That was followed by Mezza9 Cafe and Desserts (20 Third St. SW), which is similar to a Parisian café. Then, she worked simultaneously to open a pair of restaurants on First Avenue Southwest: 1928 Cocktails & Bites — think Asian cuisine meets tapas with a Shanghai speakeasy vibe — and Bebap Korean Inspired Eatery, which brings a new type of food to the Rochester dining scene.

Food has always been one of Loo's passions, especially Korean cuisine. Deciding Rochester needed that sort of restaurant, she dove into it, head first. Loo did extensive research studying the many different ingredients, the unique cooking techniques, the different dishes and textures as well as fermentation, a process critical to some Korean dishes like kimchi. Since opening in October 2023, Bebap has turned into a go-to place.

What she offers are many traditional dishes, key among them is banchan, side dishes based on vegetables, rice, seafood and sometimes meat. These are akin to condiments and are served with every meal. Essential to many dishes are ingredients like sesame oil, kochujang, a chili pepper paste and kochkaru, a chili pepper powder. Garlic and ginger are often part of a dish as well.

What stands out in Korean cuisine is the combination of flavors that all work together — sweet, spicy, salty and vinegary. They also go for harmony and balance, featuring contrasting elements like hot and cold, fermented and fresh, hearty and light. Interesting, there isn't much dairy in their day-to-day food.

Served with every meal, banchan is a side dish that often functions as an appetizer. At Bebap, the banchan is made fresh each day, but rotates among several kinds. Above, from top and clockwise, as classic kimchi, garlic and sesame broccoli, and bean sprout kimchi.

Brian Todd / Post Bulletin

What is also important to Loo is the seasonality of dishes. Her extensive winter menu, available both at lunch and dinner, includes kimchi-jjigae, a kimchi stew with pork belly and tofu. Customers new to Bebap and Korean cuisine are often confused simply by the nomenclature. But it's just a matter of learning the language. Jjigae is simply Korean for hearty stews.

These cold days are also perfect for a bowl of gallbitang, a popular soup made with beef short ribs. Also popular is dolsot bibimap which includes rice, vegetables, egg and a red pepper paste all served together in a very hot shallow stone pot.

One of the most requested dishes is bulgogi, thinly sliced beef strips marinated in a sweet, garlic soy sauce among many ingredients. Want to try something uniquely Korean? How about tteokbokki, a spicy rice cake served with fish cakes, green onion and cabbage. Add a boiled egg — a common Korean upgrade — and have a complete meal.

The list of dishes is endless — it might be difficult to choose but just go for it. They are all made with premium South Korean ingredients. There are also descriptions under each menu item which is helpful, especially if you're not as familiar with this cuisine.

Probably one of the most well-known Korean condiments is kimchi, almost a national dish and certainly one of the most popular. Complex, it features tastes of spicy, salty, and sometimes sour. Among the ingredients are gochugaru, garlic, ginger, fish sauce, Napa cabbage, daikon radish and carrots. It turns out to be a kaleidoscope of flavors which can be eaten fresh or made into a stew, added to pancakes, dumplings, meatballs and even to roasted Brussels sprouts. It's said Koreans can't live without it. Kept refrigerated it is good for almost a year.

On these cold days, this is a great place to go — it'll warm you inside as well as your outside. Bebap is open every day but Sunday from 11-9. Happy hours are 3-6 daily. They also offer delivery and take-out. For more information call 507-206-3009.

Post Bulletin food writer Holly Ebel knows what's cookin'. Send comments or story tips to life@postbulletin.Com .

Post Bulletin food writer Holly Ebel knows what's cookin'. Send comments or story tips to life@postbulletin.Com.

Celebrating Dictionary's Addition Of Korean Words By Cooking

By Honorary Reporter Cheryl Sun Han Hagen from U.S.Photos = Cheryl Sun Han Hagen

The Oxford English Dictionary's addition of Korean words reflects the global rise of Korean culture. 

With its designation of the term "Korean" in 1933, the dictionary included the words "kimchi" in 1976 and "K-pop" in 2016. In its September 2021 update, 26 more were added including galbi (grilled ribs), Hanbok, Hallyu and unni (eonni) meaning "older sister." 

The December 2024 update featured seven more: dalgona, (honeycomb candy), hyung, aka hyeong (older brother), jjigae (stew), maknae (youngest sibling), noraebang, (karaoke room), pansori (traditional lyrical opera) and tteokbokki (spicy rice cake). 

To celebrate this, I embraced my inner Korean foodie and made dalgona, jjigae and tteokbokki.

My version of dalgona (honeycomb candy)

I had never made dalgona before, even after its surge in popularity from "Squid Game." Without the usual equipment, I improvised with what I had at home. 

My first few attempts ended in burned sugar, turning everything black. I then either waited too little or too long for the mixture to cool, resulting in a sticky mess or something too hard to mold. After using 1 kg of sugar in several tries, I finally got it right.

I used my own recipe to make my first kimchi jjigae (stew).

Jjigae is usually served bubbling hot in a pot and accompanied by rice and side dishes, or banchan. My favorite is kimchi jjigae because of the broth that balances the spicy, savory, tangy and umami flavors. Finding the ingredients can be a little tricky so I had to improvise. Just remember to use fermented kimchi, as older kimchi tastes better.

My homemade version of tteokbokki (spicy rice cake)

I first tasted tteokbokki in 2019 when Korean friends took me to Jayang Market in Seoul and introduced me to Korean street food. I was overwhelmed by all the choices but tteokbokki is what stood out. 

This street food, once a royal dish during the Joseon Dynasty, is widely available across Korea or makeable at home. Remember to soak tteokbokki in water to soften it.

msjeon22@korea.Kr

*This article is written by a Korea.Net Honorary Reporter. Our group of Honorary Reporters are from all around the world, and they share with Korea.Net their love and passion for all things Korean. 

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