Saturday, October 6, 2012

Food - 떡뽁이 ddukbokki

Last week I got to do some quick cooking.  I probably won't be able to cook ethnic food at my own residence for a while longer, but that week I was lucky...  My friends and I stayed in a hotel to have fun and relax before starting work and school again.  The hotel was more like a resort or suite with a full kitchen. We had a lot of fun staying up late chatting and eating ramyon and ddokbokki. We made ddokbokki two nights in a row. The first night we made it together. The second night, I had the honor of making the batch while my friends were out. It was tasty and satiating to our ravenous bellies.
The ddukbokki is made of the long rice cakes, red sauce or gochujang, and any other items we wish to add. We didn't have everything. Instead we added some onion, cabbage, fish cake or odeng, and sausage.

Preparation is easy. After adding enough water to the pan, mix in the sauce, and then add the ddukk or rice cake when the water begins to boil. As the rice cake softens (it will be hard in the sealed  cold package), chop up and add cabbage, odeng, sausage, carrots etc. As an extra add on, you can put in some ramyon. Make sure there is enough liquid mixture for the noodles to cook and soften. Once the rice cake is soft and chewable and your extras are cooked, it's all set. If you wish, you can add sesame oil for flavor and sesame seed for texture and presentation.  Total prep and cook time is under 25 min. With friends working together it can be ready in as few as 10 or 15 minutes. Team work is always best.

I hope you like this quick meal, too!

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I also observed my eating out patterns and realized I frequent Korean restaurants when my friends are in the mood for it.  It is about time to share some good eats. The next time I see something yummy I will share a picture.