Black Bean Paste TteokBokkI

Hi Everyone, today I will introduce a snack food that kids will love. It is a variation of TteokBokkI, using black bean paste instead of a spicy sauce. It is called “jajang tteokbokki” in Korean. Chewy rice cakes, cooked with savory black bean paste and vegetables, taste delicious. If your kids cannot eat normal spicy tteokbokki, this non spicy version can be a great substitute. Try it someday.

Yield: 2 Servings

Short Korean Lesson

• ChinJeol (친절) = Kindness
• BulChinJeol (불친절) = Unkindness

Video Instructions

Main Ingredients

• 2 Cups Sticky Rice Cakes for Tteokbokki (30 Pieces or 10 oz)
• ½ Cup Onion
• ½ Cup Cabbage
• ½ Cup Fish Cake (Optional)

Sauce Ingredients

• 3-4 Tbsp Black Bean Paste
• ¼ Cup Water
• 1 tsp Cornstarch
• 2 Tbsp Cooking Oil
• 2½ tsp Sugar
• 1 tsp Garlic

Directions

Obtain about 30 sticky rice cakes for tteokbokki. I used frozen ones and did not defrost them. If your rice cakes are too hard to use, you can soak them in warm water for few minutes before using them.

Chop ½ cup worth each of onion, cabbage, and fish cake into square bite-sized pieces. The fish cake is optional, so if you skip it, add more onion and cabbage.

In a heated pan with 2 Tbsp of cooking oil, fry 1 tsp of minced garlic for 10 seconds on medium-high. If your black bean paste is already fried in oil (some brands are already fried in oil), you can reduce the oil amount in this step.

Add 3-4 Tbsp of black bean paste into the pan and fry for 1 minute. There are different brands of black bean paste in a Korean or Asian grocery store and each brand has slightly different flavor and saltness. So depending on the black bean paste that you have, you may want to use more or less.

Add 2½ tsp of sugar when you fry the black bean paste. It helps reduce the bitterness of the black bean paste. Try not to burn the black bean paste.

Add the chopped onion and cabbage. Fry for 2 minutes.

Add the rice cakes and fish cake. Fry for 3 minutes.

Mix ¼ cup of water and 1 tsp of cornstarch thoroughly. This will thicken the jajang sauce.

Slowly pour and mix the cornstarch mixture into the jajang tteokbokki.

Cook for 5 more minutes, or until the rice cakes become soft. Poke a rice cake with a folk; if it goes through easily, it is done.

 

Our first son, Bryson can only eat a small amount of kimchi because it is spicy. Since he cannot eat spicy food yet, I cooked this for his snack few days ago. He loved it and kept telling me “give me more,” “another one.” 😀 It is always makes me happy to feed delicious food to my loved ones. Enjoy!