if korean tteokbokki was a burger..
The inspiration behind this burger creation is one of my favourite Korean street foods, Tteokbokki aka Korean rice cakes!
Tteokbokki is a popular Korean dish that is generally made with a spicy gochujang sauce. It usually contains rice cakes, fish cakes and garnished with boiled egg.
Because Tteokbokki is saucy, spicy and sweet, it goes so well with Twigim, which is like Korean tempura. There are many variations of twigim, such as fried squid, prawns, sweet potatoes, veggies, seaweed etc.
For this recipe, I tried my best to translate all the key elements of a delicious Tteokbokki into burger form.
The Tteok (rice cake) buns
You know how rice cakes in Tteokbokki is traditionally cylinder/tube shaped?
Well, it got me thinking. Why does it have to be that shape?
What if I made it into a bun shape like a flat disc?
A part of me really wanted to find out if this was possible – so I decided to make tteok from scratch!
There are many ways to make tteok. Some people use:
- a combination of rice flour, glutinous rice flour (also known as sweet rice flour) and potato starch
- only glutinous rice flour – this would be a very mochi like texture
- wheat flour (plain flour) with potato starch – the more *economical* option
It took me a while to figure out which tteok recipe to experiment with. In the end, I went with a more traditional combination of rice flour, glutinous rice flour and potato starch.
After all, we’re making rice cakes – so I wanted to use rice flour.
I had some extra tteokbokki dough so I decided to make traditional cylinder shaped tteok as well.
With this recipe, you can make 4 tteok buns (enough for 2 burgers), or alternatively just 2 tteok buns with some spare dough to make traditional tteok.
the carrot & scallion twigim
One of my favourite things to eat with spicy saucy Tteokbokki is…Twigim!
It’s kinda like Korean tempura, or simply deep fried battered ingredients such as squid, prawns, veggies and even seaweed.
The greasy and crispy texture (aka basak basak) from twigim pairs SO well with saucy tteokbokki.
So I thought..why not incorporate this into our burger?
I decided to use carrot and scallions for the twigim, to add some veggies to our burger.
The key to a good twigim is to use ice water and corn starch in the batter. This makes it super crispy!!
the packaging design
This tteokbokki burger packaging is inspired by its ingredients – spicy rice cakes, fish cakes and scallions.
Do you like it?
In case you’re wondering, the box is a burger box I got from a food packaging company online!
improvement points
This tteokbokki burger is not perfect by any means, but it’s a starting point.
After tasting this dish, here are some improvements I would suggest you make:
- If you like something flavourful, I would suggest brushing the tteok buns with sotteok sotteok sauce, which is made with some gochujang, ketchup, sugar, soy sauce and minced garlic.
- The fish cake patty is a bit flour-y because I made it by reconstructing store bought fish cakes by adding in an egg and corn starch. If you’re after something better, I’d suggest you make the fish cakes from scratch using fresh fish fillets!
- The twigim is nice and crispy – just make sure you serve it immediately! Just note there is a lot of carbs in this burger though haha.
- If you like your burgers saucy, dip this burger into tteokbokki sauce. Trust me, it’s SO good!
Tteokbokki Burger (Bokki Bun)
Ingredients
Method
- In a large mixing bowl, combine rice flour, glutinous rice flour, tapioca starch and salt.
- Add about 120g of the hot water and stir using a fork.
- Gradually add the remaining hot water while mixing until a dough forms.
- Once cool enough to handle, knead with your hands. The dough should feel soft and slightly tacky, similar to playdough.
- If the dough feels dry, add 1 tbsp hot water at a time until it comes together. If too wet, add 1 tbsp rice flour at a time.
- Knead for 8–10 minutes until smooth.
- Cover with plastic wrap and rest for 30 minutes.
- Divide into 4 equal pieces. Roll into balls, then flatten into thick discs.
- Bring a pot of water to a boil. Cook the discs until they float (about 2–3 minutes).
- Transfer immediately into ice water for 30 seconds. Drain well and place on baking paper to prevent sticking.
- Heat oil in a non-stick pan over medium heat. Lightly sear both sides for 2–3 minutes per side until slightly golden. Set aside.
- In a small pot, combine gochujang, sugar, soy sauce, fish sauce, chicken bouillon and water.
- Bring to a gentle boil, then reduce to medium heat.
- Simmer for 6–8 minutes until slightly thickened and glossy.
- If needed, add a cornstarch slurry (1 tbsp cornstarch + 1 tbsp cold water) and simmer until thickened. Set aside.
- Roughly chop the fish cake sheets.
- Add fish cakes, egg and cornstarch into a food processor.
- Blend until a thick, sticky paste forms (1–2 minutes).
- Divide into 2 portions and shape into round patties with lightly oiled hands.
- Chill for 15 minutes in the fridge to help them firm up.
- Heat oil in a pan over medium heat.
- Cook patties for 3–4 minutes per side, until lightly golden and firm.
- Brush tteokbokki sauce over the patties while warm.
- In a bowl, combine julienned carrots and scallions.
- Add salt and cornstarch. Mix well and let sit for 20 minutes in the fridge.
- Add flour and toss to coat.
- Pour in ice water and gently mix with a fork until just combined. The batter should be slightly thick.
- Heat oil in a pan over medium low heat.
- Scoop about 2 tbsp of batter per patty, keeping a similar size to the fish cake patty.
- Cook for 3-4 minutes per side until golden brown and crispy.
- Place one tteok bun on the bottom.
- Add a carrot and scallion twigim patty.
- Add the fish cake patty coated in tteokbokki sauce.
- Top with the remaining tteok bun.
- Optional: Serve with extra tteokbokki sauce on the side for dipping.
