Korean pork and rice cakes

Name: Korean pork and rice cakes
Total time: 25 min
Yield: 2 servings
Ingredients: 8 oz Korean rice cakes (tteok), the cylinder shape; 10 oz ground pork or beef; 10 oz baby bok choy, root ends trimmed, roughly chopped; 3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped; 1 tbsp ginger, finely chopped; 2 scallions, thinly sliced, whites and greens kept apart; 2 tbsp gochujang; 1 tbsp soy sauce; 2 tsp sugar; 2 tbsp crème fraîche or full-fat Greek yogurt; 1 tsp toasted sesame seeds; neutral oil, salt, pepper

Chewy, glossy, and faster than deciding where to order from.

At a Glance

Time

25 min

Serves

Story

Rice cakes arrive stuck together in a solid brick and want separating by hand before they go anywhere near water, because whatever is still fused when it hits the pot stays fused. They also want a cold rinse the moment they are drained. Starch keeps working after the heat stops, and thirty seconds under warm water is the difference between distinct chewy cylinders and one large regrettable dumpling.

Ingredients

8 oz Korean rice cakes (tteok)the cylinder shape
10 oz ground pork or beef
10 oz baby bok choyroot ends trimmed, roughly chopped
3 cloves garlicroughly chopped
1 tbsp gingerfinely chopped
2 scallionsthinly sliced, whites and greens kept apart
2 tbsp gochujang
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp sugar
2 tbsp crème fraîche or full-fat Greek yogurt
1 tsp toasted sesame seeds
neutral oilsalt, pepper

Method

Tteokbokki usually arrives swimming in sauce. This is the drier weeknight cousin, where the rice cakes are coated rather than submerged and there is pork in the mix to make it dinner rather than a snack.

Put a pot of well salted water on to boil. Separate the rice cakes with your hands now, while you have the patience for it.
Whisk the gochujang, soy sauce and sugar together with 2 tablespoons of water. This is your sauce, and it is the whole dish, so taste it.
Warm a slick of neutral oil in a wide pan over medium high. In go the garlic, ginger and scallion whites for under a minute, until fragrant and not a second browned.
Add the pork. Break it up and let it brown properly, 3 to 4 minutes, then tip away any excess fat with a steady hand.
Bok choy and sauce together, with a splash more water if the pan looks tight. 3 to 4 minutes until the greens collapse and the meat is cooked through.
Meanwhile boil the rice cakes 2 to 3 minutes, until they give under a fingernail. Drain, then rinse under warm water for half a minute. See above. Do not skip this.
Fold everything together off the heat with the crème fraîche, which turns the sauce from fierce to glossy. Sesame seeds and scallion greens over the top.