A cultural memory wrapped in a rice cake
It’s a blustery day, the cold Autumn wind chafing my cheeks and turning my fingers into frozen little fishsticks despite my gloves. School’s finished for the day, and arm in arm with my girlfriends, we go racing down the path from our school to a tiny little shopfront just next door. The glass door has fogged up and hides the crowds of students who’ve beaten us here, laughing and talking while munching on all manner of cheap, freshly made eats. This is fast food, Korean-style, and anybody who has spent even a year in Korea will be familiar with this scene.
South Korea is technically still an occupied country, with American military posts and G.I.s all over the place…and with them, they have brought many of their own fast food chains such as T.G.I.F.s and Bennigans selling everything from burgers to Caesar salads to Monte Christo sandwiches (I had a friend who was SO in love with Bennigans M.C. sandwiches that he would order it every single time we went there. He didn’t even look at the menu - just ordered his beloved deep fried hunk without batting an eyelid every time). However, these American-flavour dishes tend to be a bit too expensive for your average student’s pocket (thank GOD!), and thus after school every day, students all over the country gather at these tiny little ‘boonshik jyohm’ (snack food houses) to have a veritable feast shared between friends for the cost of just a few dollars.
One of the most famous dishes, and one that can definitely be found at ANY snack food house without fail is this humble dish called ‘ddukboki‘. It doesn’t really count as a ‘recipe’ as such, as it’s far too simple for that, but everyone has their own version and its heat and satisfying heaviness provide for a decent after school meal to tide you between then and dinner.
It’s a simple dish, with essentially nothing more but rice cakes and fish cake as its ingredients. You can add a little onion and a boiled egg if you like, but it’s certainly not necessary and not the main feature of the dish by any means. Though this is meant to be a quick and easy dish to put together, the ingredients that it uses are ones typically found in a Korean kitchen, so you may need to visit your local Chinese/Korean grocery store in order to find things like gochujjang (Korean chilli paste, which can’t really be substituted with anything else) and dashi powder.
My mother has made this dish many times throughout my life, and when we sit down to eat together, she sighs and giggles, sharing stories of enjoying this dish with her girlfriends back when she was a teenager. And I, in turn, grin and enjoy the moment with her.
Ddukboki
(serves about 2-3, depending on how hungry you are!)
Ingredients
2 cups water
2 heaped tbsp gochujjang (Korean chilli paste)
2 tbsp light corn syrup
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp dashi powder
1 onion, halved and sliced (we were out of onions this day so none in the photo!)
2 sheets fried fishcake (also known as odeng), sliced into strips
500g rice cake sausages (dduk), soaked in boiling water still softened then drained
2 green/spring onions, cleaned and sliced
2 boiled eggs
1. In a large, deep frying pan, stir together the water, corn syrup, sugar and dashi powder till all is dissolved.
2. Add the sliced onion, egg, fried fishcake strips and rice cake pieces to the frying pan and simmer for a few minutes, stirring to ensure that the thickening sauce coats everything properly.
3. Once the sauce has thickened and the rice cakes are soft all the way through, serve on a plate, sprinkle the sliced spring onions on top and enjoy while steaming hot 
Technorati Tags: Korean cuisine, food, dduk, Asian food, recipes, street food
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Comments
Tanna I really enjoyed this simple recipe and simple story. There is so much beauty in the simple that we often speed by it. Thanks for this one Ellie.
connie omygosh!! i LOVE this dish — my mom makes it at least once a week in the winter, and when i go to korea, my cousins and i make a late night trip to eat ddukbokgi ^___^; your pictures are so cute btw!!
Ellie Kat - most definitely If the ingredients are on hand, then it’s a much faster (and healthier) fast food alternative than many take-out places
Jaden - Absolutely I bond with my mother over food, so these moments are always special to me.
Tanna - I’m glad you enjoyed it
Connie - We don’t have it quite that often, but we do have it about once a month during the Autumn and winter months 
I know the late night ddukbokgi trips all too well! Glad you liked the pictures 
Lynn - Thanks, hon
Hilda I’ve never been to Korea or had its street food, but judging by how much I like the good Korean food I’ve had at various restaurants in San Francisco, LA and here in Paris, I’m totally up for this (your pictures help in that regard as well…)
Ellie MP - Hehe, I’d be surprised if anyone who goes over doesn’t give this a single try
Hilda - I’m glad that you like Korean food…and I think you should give this a try It’s super easy and well worth the effort!
dav Thank you so much - now that the weather has turned chilly (in Wisconsin), I crave ddokboki more than anything. (Well, that and hoddok.) The cafe I used to go to in Korea used thin, long noodles - do you know what I’d buy to duplicate that? (They also used the rice cakes and fish sheets.)
It always heartens me to find a recipe, especially one I think I could recreate semi-successfully.
Ellie Peabody - Its a shame as its such a lovely dish, but as Korean cuisine becomes more popular, I’m finding more people are trying it and falling in love with it
Dav - Too easy The long thin noodles used are actually ramen noodles - what you need to do is just buy a pack of instant ramen, fill a bowl with boiling water and stick the noodles in to soak till they have mostly rehydrated. Then give them a good draining and add them to the ddukbokki mix as the final ingredient, being careful when you mix them in and trying not to break ‘em up too much!
Oh, and my ma and I have just got our hands on a hoddok recipe which we’ll be trying out today…if it’s successful, then hopefully you’ll have a recipe for that too
Kimberly This story is so common! I often eat ddukboki with my mom when it gets cold out and she always talks about her school days with her and her friends. It’s nice to just sit down and have a nice conversation with my mom, even if it is just her reminiscing. At my age it’s hard to find anything to talk about with her, let alone some time to just sit and chat.
Even though I hate spicy food, (I’m only half Korean so I’m allowed to not like spicy food) I’ll always eat ddukboki when it’s offered, just so we can sit and talk.
Ellie Kimberly - there are plenty of Korean kids these days who are unaccustomed to spicy food, some don’t even like kimchi 
But I’m glad to hear that this dish helps you and your mother to bond
Meiyan - I am very glad to hear that this is your favourite
I’ve never tried this, but it sounds like a nice way to warm up and have a snack!