Korean: 치즈떡꼬치
What is Tteokkochi?
Tteokkochi (also spelled as Tteok Kkochi) is a popular South Korean street food that’s made with elongated/cylinder shaped rice cakes in a skewer. The elongated rice cake is known as garaetteok (가래떡; pronounced gah-rrae-dduk). ‘Tteok’ means rice cake and ‘Kkochi’ means skewer.
What is the flavor profile?
This dish is typically brushed with a spicy and sweet gochujang sauce. However, my recipe is a non-traditional version and is more of a fusion between Italian and South Korean. The flavor profile of this dish is mild, cheesy, simple, yet flavorful and delicious! And, if you like a bit of a kick to it, feel free to sprinkle some chili flakes to it and enjoy. This dish is quick and super easy to make. It takes about 10 minutes to make these and is cost friendly.
What is the difference between Tteokkochi and Tteokbokki?
Traditional Tteokkochi and Tteokbokki are similar in that they’re both spicy and sweet in flavor. They both use gochujang sauce as the main sauce. The difference is that Tteokkochi is skewered and typically eaten as a quick individual snack whereas Tteokbokki is stir fried with lots of sauce, and comes with fish cakes, egg, and some vegetables. Tteokbokki can be served either in a huge plate to be shared or served in smaller portions for individual servings – it can be eaten as an appetizer, a meal, or as a snack.
Cheese Tteokkochi
Ingredients
12 elongated/cylinder shaped rice cakes
4 mozzarella sticks (low-moisture, part-skim, kid size cheese sticks works best)
1 tbsp pesto sauce
1.5 cup water
chili flakes (optional)
Directions
- Cut the mozzarella sticks using the rice cakes to measure into the same length.
- Blanch rice cakes in boiling hot water for 2 mins on medium to medium high. Then, rinse them in cold water to prevent further cooking. Drain and pat dry.
- Skewer and alternate between the rice cakes and mozzarella cheese. Then, brush them w/a bit of pesto oil.
- In a non-stick frying pan, place the skewered rice cakes and mozzarella sticks on medium to medium low heat for about 1 min on one side until slightly golden brown then flip. Once flipped, take a spoon and spread the pesto sauce on top of the skewered rice cakes and mozzarella sticks while it’s cooking on the other side. Grill for about 1-1.5 min on each side. Once the bottom is slightly golden brown, take it out of the grill. Plate it and enjoy it!
Recipe Video
Hope you enjoy this recipe. Give it a try and let me know what you think! 🙂 I’d also love to see you make this so, if you make it, tag @crabcakesandkimchi on Instagram and hashtag it #crabcakesandkimchi
