PProvenance
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Cooking in
North Vancouver · Metro Vancouver
Nearest city · Vancouver Change
Korean · Seoul

Tteokbokki

Tteokbokki (spicy rice cakes) is Korea's most beloved street food — cylindrical garae-tteok (rice cakes) simmered in a fiery gochujang and gochugaru sauce with fish cakes and hard-boiled eggs. The rice cakes must be chewy but not hard; the sauce should be thick, glossy, and intensely spicy-sweet. It is sold by pojangmacha (street food vendors) throughout Korea and consumed with an intensity that borders on religious.

‹Swipe for the next dish›
Serves4
Total25 min
Within reach11of 14 in North Vancouver

11 in town · three not yet within reach.

How the 14 are reached
In town
11 · korean rice cakes (tteok), onion, green onion, garlic cloves, sugar, kosher salt, sesame oil, gochujang (Korean red chilli paste), rice vinegar, soy sauce, sugar
Not yet within reach
3 · gochujang sauce base (see below), fish cake (eomuk), sesame seeds
Cook
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I

The Market List

The benchmark for each ingredient, and who stocks it near you. Tap a stockist to go straight to the product.

400 g
Korean rice cakes (tteok)
sliced 1 cm thick
Origin · KoreaIn town · Bosa Foods · Vancouver → · also Wismettac · Vancouver, SGC Food Distributors · Vancouver · 2 more
200 ml
gochujang sauce base (see below)
Not yet within reach of North Vancouver · each reach is counted
100 g
fish cake (eomuk)
sliced
Not yet within reach of North Vancouver · each reach is counted
100 g
60 g
green onion
cut into 2 cm lengths
In town · Bosa Foods · Vancouver →
3
5 g
2 g
2 g
sesame seeds
Not yet within reach of North Vancouver · each reach is counted
5 ml
Gochujang Sauce
60 g
30 ml
water
Your own market
15 ml
10 ml
15 g

Within reach counts in town, delivered, shipped and the nearest city. A staple counts once it has a local seller. Charted from each shop's own pages; not yet vouched by a cook who shops here.

The larder of North Vancouver →

Each tap is counted, so the stockist sees the demand Provenance sends them.

II

The Method

1
Whisk gochujang, water, rice vinegar, soy sauce, and 15 g sugar until smooth and glossy sauce forms; set aside.
From the canon — Gochujang is one of the great fermented condiments of the world — a thick, brick-red Korean paste made from gochugaru (Korean red chilli flakes), fermented s… Gochujang (Korean Fermented Chilli Paste — Ratio and Use) →
2
Blanch rice cakes in boiling water 2 minutes; drain and set aside (prevents sticking during cooking).
3
Heat 5 ml sesame oil in large skillet or shallow pot over medium-high; sauté onion and garlic 2 minutes until fragrant.
4
Add gochujang sauce and bring to simmer; add blanched rice cakes, fish cake, and green onion; stir continuously 5–7 minutes until rice cakes are tender and sauce clings and thickens.
5
Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and sugar; finish with sesame seeds and serve in shallow bowl with sauce.
III

Sensory Tests

◇Where it lives or dies. The moment where tteokbokki lives or dies is the final 3-minute simmer — as the rice cakes approach correct doneness, the starch released into the sauce reaches a critical concentration and the sauce transforms from a thin, watery consistency to a thick, coating glaze. Watch for the texture shift: the sauce changes from liquid to viscous, coats the back of a spoon, and clings to the rice cakes. Serve immediately at this point.
Pillar IV
Cross-cuisine parallels are part of membership.
The dishes this one teaches you, across the cuisines — on every recipe.
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V

What to Pour

Pouring for British Columbia · ·

The pairing
Helios Ryukyu Awamori 25°
Helios Distillery · Okinawa
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
Shochu
From British Columbia

Nothing from British Columbia holds against this yet.

Without alcohol

No pour without alcohol holds against this yet.

Why each one works is part of membership — Enter · from $49 a year →

The whole pairing
Pillar VI
Origin and lineage are part of membership.
Where the dish comes from and how it came to be — on every recipe.
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The working kitchen
Cost this recipe
Part of The Profession · ingredient costs and your margin
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HACCP brief
Part of The Profession · the food-safety plan
→
Sourced through Provenance

The hands behind the plate.

Bosa Foods · Vancouver
Vancouver · Korean rice cakes (tteok), onion, green onion
→
T Amano Trading · Vancouver
Vancouver · rice vinegar, soy sauce
→
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