Ever since I started watching Kdramas, I’ve wanted to try more Korean food. Unlike in most western (i.e. American) shows where performers eat very little during a dining scene, performers in Korean dramas chow down on the food before them.  I suspect there are two reasons for this.  One – it may be their only chance to eat during the busy shooting schedule.  Two – the food is really good.  (Even those Subway sandwiches look tasty!)

I tried my hand at Korean Rolled Omelets with mediocre success.  And, thanks to my daughters, I’ve been able to experience yummy treats from the streets of Seoul.  But one of the foods I’ve been most interested in sampling is tteokbokki.  I mentioned this to a new friend who is also a Kdrama lover, and she promptly gifted me with a pack of frozen tteokbokki from Trader Joe’s.

Tteokbokki

Tteokbokki (Korean:  떡볶이) are small, cylinder rice cakes that are usually seasoned with spicy gochujang (chili paste) or non-spicy ganjang (soy sauce) based sauce.  Trader Joe’s Tteokbokki features the gochujang sauce and can be made two different ways.  The first, or traditional way, is to boil the rice cakes and then stir in the sauce, cooking until it thickens.  The other is to fry up the rice cakes in a skillet or air-fryer so that they get crispy and then add the sauce.  I went with the traditional method.

What to have with the tteokbokki is another story.  I am not that adventurous when it comes to cooking so needed to find something fairly simple but that would pair with the tteokbokki.  I found a recipe for sticky chicken thighs that did the trick, then completed the meal with an Asian chopped salad.  While I enjoyed the results, my husband was not a fan of the tteokbokki.  Neither of us expected it to be so chewy but the sauce is delicious.  Now, what to do with the leftovers?

Ramen

College students know the joy of Ramen (Korean:  라면) – a delicious, if not very nutritious, noodle delight that still costs less than a dollar per pack.  A popular Japanese noodle dish, ramen is also famous for its quick cooking noodle.  There were times during my college years that I ate ramen for lunch almost every day.  (I had a lot of homework and didn’t want to be bothered making food.)  Ramen was the perfect choice.  It is a hot, yummy meal that can be made in less than ten minutes.

In my post college years, ramen became a “once in a blue moon” kind of food.  (That sauce packet is heavy on the sodium.)  So, I was surprised see to my old college food friend featured in so many Kdramas.  And amused to learn the innuendo behind the phrase:  “Would you like some ramen?”  (Equivalent to “Want to watch Netflix and chill?)  Kdrama fans know this is like asking – “Do you want to start a relationship?”  It comes up a lot in Kdramas such as in two of my favorite Kdramas of all time:   Crash Landing on You and Mr. Queen.

Ramen on its own is good, but I became curious about all of the things you can do with ramen.  Which led me to . . .

I Made Rabokki

What happens when tteokbokki and ramen are mixed together?  Spicy delicenses is what!  Typically called rabokki (Korean:  라볶이), the mash-up may be my new favorite way to eat ramen.  I didn’t have all of the ingredients for rabokki which includes fish cakes and cabbage, but I figured I could wing it with the ingredients I did have:  Ramen, left-over tteokbokki in sauce, sticky chicken thighs, green onions, remaining Asian salad.  To the boiling water, I added the ramen packet and some of the tteokbokki sauce.  Then I threw in the diced chicken, chopped green onions, some of the cabbage from the salad, and the ramen noodles.  The whole thing was ready to eat in five minutes.

Wow!  I can’t get over the taste for my thrown together rabokki!  It’s the tteokbokki sauce that does the trick – giving the ramen a spicy kick full of flavor.  This may be my new go-to noodle soup.

Tteokbokki vs Rabokki

Between tteokbokki and rabokki – which is better?  From my limited sample, while I enjoyed the tteokbokki – it’s the rabokki that I can eat over and over again.  Now I really want to go to a Korean restaurant and try authentic tteokbokki and rabokki.  Who knows, I may change my mind.