Bouncy, chewy rice cakes are stir-fried with beef, carrots, onions, and mushrooms in a savory soy sauce-based sauce. What was traditionally served as a royal court food is now enjoyed all over Korea!
what is gungjung tteokbokki?
Gungjung (궁중) means royal court and tteokbokki (떡볶이) means stir-fried rice cakes in Korean. There are a few stories behind how this dish came about but I’ve heard that it was only served to the King during the Joseon Dynasty.
Gungjung tteokbokki is different than the typical sweet and spicy saucy tteokbokki. This version is more of a dry stir fry with colorful vegetables and thinly sliced beef in a savory, sweet, and salty soy sauce-based sauce. This is the perfect dish for those who don’t like spicy food. My picky toddler loves this dish and will even eat the veggies because he loves the sauce!
what you’ll need:
- Chadolbaegi: thinly sliced beef brisket is marinated in a savory sauce and stir-fried with assorted vegetables.
- Rice cakes: there are many shapes of rice cakes ranging from sliced ones, cylindrical-shaped ones, and even round ones like I am using here.
- Mushrooms: I used a mixture of king oyster mushrooms and white beech mushrooms for this recipe, feel free to use any kind of mushrooms you like.
- Carrots: thinly sliced carrots add a nice crunchy texture and color to the dish.
- Onion/Green Onion: I used both for this recipe but feel free to adjust to your preference!
- Toasted sesame seeds: for garnishing at the end.
- Neutral oil: for cooking
For the beef marinade:
- Soy sauce: this ingredient is essential— it’s the base of the sauce.
- Sugar: I used white granulated sugar, but you can alternatively use coconut sugar, monkfruit sugar, or stevia too!
- Honey: Although we used sugar already, honey also adds a different depth of sweetness and helps bind the sauce together.
- Garlic: Minced garlic adds a lovely aromatic flavor to the dish.
- Sesame oil: another essential ingredient! The nuttiness from the sesame oil adds a nice roundness to the dish.
- Black pepper: you need just a pinch to taste.
all the details
Let’s marinate the beef. In a large mixing bowl, combine the thinly sliced beef brisket, soy sauce, sugar, minced garlic, sesame oil, honey, and freshly cracked black pepper. Gently massage the beef to mix all the ingredients. Set it aside and allow it to marinate for at least 15 minutes.
In the meantime, slice all the vegetables and set them aside.
In a large bowl, add the rice cakes and fill the bowl with lukewarm water just until the rice cakes are covered. Set them aside and allow the rice cakes to soak for 10 minutes.
In a shallow pan, heat some neutral oil on medium-high heat. Add the marinated beef and saute for 3-5 minutes or until the beef starts to brown. Add the sliced vegetables and cook until they start to soften about 3 minutes. Drain the rice cakes and add them to the pan. Stir the ingredients around and saute for an additional 1-2 minutes. Finish with a generous drizzle of sesame oil and a sprinkle of toasted sesame seeds! Enjoy 🙂
more recipes you may like:
- Tteokbokki (Spicy Rice Cakes)
- Jjimdak (Korean Soy-Braised Chicken)
- Budae Jjigae (Korean Army Stew)
- Spicy Beef Chili Oil Noodles
- Mushroom Tteokgalbi (Korean Grilled Meat Patties)
Ingredients
For marinated beef:
- 8 oz. chaedolbaegi (thinly sliced beef brisket)
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 teaspoon garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- pinch of black pepper
Other ingredients:
- 10 oz. rice cakes
- 3 shiitake mushrooms, sliced
- 1 carrot, sliced
- 4 oz. beech mushrooms
- 1 onion, sliced
- 3 stalks green onion, roughly chopped
Instructions
- Let's marinate the beef. In a large mixing bowl, combine the thinly sliced beef brisket, soy sauce, sugar, minced garlic, sesame oil, honey, and freshly cracked black pepper. Gently massage the beef to mix all the ingredients. Set it aside and allow it to marinate for at least 15 minutes.
- In the meantime, slice all the vegetables and set them aside.
- In a large bowl, add the rice cakes and fill the bowl with lukewarm water just until the rice cakes are covered. Set them aside and allow the rice cakes to soak for 10 minutes.
- In a shallow pan, heat some neutral oil on medium-high heat. Add the marinated beef and saute for 3-5 minutes or until the beef starts to brown. Add the sliced vegetables and cook until they start to soften about 3 minutes. Drain the rice cakes and add them to the pan. Stir the ingredients around and saute for an additional 1-2 minutes. Finish with a generous drizzle of sesame oil and a sprinkle of toasted sesame seeds! Enjoy 🙂
