November 29, 2006

Korean Ddeokbokki

The past couple of Korean dishes I've tired making have recently sparked an exciting "Korean-culinary" adventure for me. My fairly basic understanding of their cuisine and culture has allowed me to begin playing around with the many Korean ingredients I've stocked up in my pantry. My recent discovery of this wonderful Korean food blog in English by Sue has definitely helped me along the way.*God bless technorati* Haha.
I've not ventured in depth into different aspects of Korean cooking yet, but intend to do so in the near future. Most Chinese restaurant menu's merely scrape the surface of authentic Chinese cuisine...and I would assume the same for Korean restaurants. I really doubt all they eat is Bibimbab, Raymun and bulgogi in Korea...the same way I realise Chinese culinary techniques go way beyond deep-frying seafood and tossing it in salt and pepper *wink*Here's a recipe I adapted from "My Korean Kitchen" which I found lip-smackingly delicious! Reminded me a little of food found at Malaysian hawker stalls, served in tacky plastic containers or rolled up newspaper~ *laughs* I didn't have many ingredients she used readily available, but was able to adapt and improvise according to what I had in my refrigerator.
The main ingredient for Ddeokbokki is (Garaeddeok) more commonly known as 'ddeok'. It is commonly sold at Japanese/Korean grocery stores here in Australia. They resemble long cylindrical sticks and are made from non-glutinous rice, salt and water. I've heard of fresh packs being sold, but out of pure laziness, I often go for the conviniently refrigerated/frozen ones.
1 bag Korean rice cake- approximately 300gms (Break pieces apart with your fingers)
1 onion thinly sliced
3 stalks shallots
1 carrot thinly sliced
8-10 large prawns (peeled)- I used frozen tiger prawns
2 tsp sesame seeds
1 handful roughly chopped mintleaves
1 tbsp sesame oil
sauce: Gochujang 2 tbsp, Brown sugar 2 tbsp, Chili powder 1/2 tsp (more if you like), roughly chopped garlic 3 cloves. (mix sauce ingredients in a bowl)

Heat oil in a deep wok. Add in vegetables and saute on medium heat. When onions are fragrant and carrots begin to soften, add in prawns, the sauce and sesame seeds. Stir-fry on high heat and toss well to combine. When prawns are cooked and condiments are ewell coated, dish out and roughly distribute mint leaves on top.
I know it isn't exactly the most "Korean" thing to have mint leaves in Ddeokbokki, but I personally think it goes really well~ the leaves help tone down the spicy chili; it give's the flavours a little twist.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi, Su Yin

I was wondering why I had so many visitors today coming through your blog. Thanks for mentioning my blog. :)

Your ddeokbokki looks really yummy.
I especially like that you added tiger prawns, because I am a huge fan of prawns. I should add some when I cook ddeokbokki next time.

JOY said...

looks delicious!

I might even try this one out.

Anonymous said...

your pictures are gorgeous!!!

Anonymous said...

IC!! So that's how you cook those things, have seen it on the shelf but never bought it, cos have no idea what it is and how to cook it :P

Thanks Suyin

Anonymous said...

Thanks for introducing us the Korean food...I learn something new..When I go shopping at Korean supermarket (out of curiousity), I just stare at some of the ingredents and it stare back..no communication.

Su-Yin -Décorateur said...

sue : I told my Korean cooking "teacher" I put prawns in ddeokbokki, she almost fainted!! haha she laughed so hard and told me not to :( LOL

limavady: Hope the ingredients are too hard to scout for :) in your region

acaligurl: Thanks for your comments :)...you're so sweet to drop by sometimes with encouraging words

quavadis: I love it when I discover new things on other food blogs...I'm glad you find mine useful too :)

tehsee: The Korean lables and words can be a little tricky. I often ask a million questions when im out at the Asian grocery store...haha the shop keepers probably get quite annoyed at me.

Anonymous said...

Hello from Seattle.

I'm a big fan of Korean food and I started teaching myself how to make certain dishes this year. Great pictures of the food.

My question is how long does it take to soften the inside of the rice cakes?

Anonymous said...

Hi Su Yin~!

It's chengz ..i;m not too sure if u still remember me but yo we went to HK together last Dec.

Anyways there's this absolutely great Korean restaurant here and they make fab Dukbokki. Theirs hv a bit of cucumber in them as well.

My good fren's a korean and she says that u can add a bit of sugar and korean soy sauce to tat as well.

ah did u know tat u can make ur dukbokki extra chewy? wait.. maybe just chewy would be good. Some ppl do like it soft but i think chewy's the best!

Anonymous said...

OMG I love this stuff.I used to live in Korea and I ate it everyday. Thanks for the flashback.

Tasia MacKay said...

Great blog and lovely photos of such a classic and delicious Korean dish; but please...PLEASE learn how to use grammar. You typed "menu's" where it should be "menus" ("Most Chinese restaurant menu's merely scrape..." No apostrophe needed!) Apostrophes are used to indicate possession, or in place of syllables omitted for a contraction (hasn't, shouldn't, etc.). You don't use an apostrophe to indicate a plural noun. I don't expect you to approve this comment for your page, but I just wanted to give you this constructive criticism from one writer to another. Please remember when not to use apostrophes in your future writing, so those who are grammar-sensitive don't cringe when reading your material.
Again, lovely photos and thanks for sharing your ddeokbokki. (I've lived in Korea and am addicted to its cuisine!)
Happy eating!

ps. I'm aware that I'm coming across as a snob; I hope I haven't offended you.

Aemi said...

Where can I buy rice cake in Malaysia???

Anonymous said...

WHEN DO YOU ADD IN THE RICE CAKES?

Anonymous said...

Yummmmmmmmm!!