Vegan Rabokki (Ramen + Tteokbokki)

What do you get when you combine two popular late night dishes – ramen and tteok-bokki – together? Rabokki!

Ramen is probably a dish everyone has encountered at least once in their lives. This popular noodle dish is everywhere – at your local Japanese or Korean restaurant or at the dried noodle section at your local grocery store.

But tteok-bokki may be less familiar to a few people. Tteok-bokki is made from pan frying rice cakes and seasoning it in a chili sauce (gochujang). It is the most popular Korean street food as it’s the perfect balance of spicy and sweetness!

Combine those two dishes together and you get a solid dish for those late night cravings! The word sounds a bit funky but it takes the first syllable of ramen and the last syllable of tteok-bokki to create Ra-bokki!

Just like the two counterparts of the dish, this dish is more trendy – rather than traditional. It’s perfect for a fun night in with friends and family or, if you’re like me, with sweats and Netflix – binging on You or House of Cards. (Side note: How wild is the show You by the way? I stayed up until 3 am binging half the series!)

For those who are familiar with how tteokbokki is made, you’re in luck because rabokki doesn’t stray too far from it. And if you’re not so familiar with tteokbokki, don’t worry as the dish isn’t complicated at all. It’s easy and fast as making instant noodles.

Just like tteokbokki, rabokki begins with a delicious broth. I veganized the typically used anchovy broth for a dried shiitake mushroom broth, giving it similar depth and flavor. Then the broth is seasoned with gochujang, giving it spice and tang, with a sprinkle of gochugaru, for more spice.

Then add in the ramen noodles and rice cakes and the broth will cook down to a thickened spicy and sweet sauce. Super quick and delicious, rabokki will fulfill your spicy and sweet cravings!

Love Korean food? Check out my other Korean recipes!

Have leftover rice cakes? Check out my Korean Rice Cake Soup!

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quick notes

• There are two types of gochugaru (고추가루): finely milled and course flakes. Either one would work for this dish.
• If you’re not a fan of spice, try omitting the gochugaru or add a ¼ tsp at a time and add to taste. If the rabokki ends up being too spicy, add more water and continue to simmer until sauce begins to thicken.
• There are many different varieties of rice cakes. Make sure to purchase garaeddeok (가래떡), which are the long cylinder rice cakes, specially used for tteokbokki and rice cake soup. They are typically in the refrigerated or frozen section at your local Korean grocery store. (Don’t confuse it with my Injeolmi rice cakes, which is more sticky and sweet.)
• If rice cakes are frozen, I recommend soaking them for 10 minutes in warm water before adding it to the broth.

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VEGAN RABOKKI

serves 2

Dried mushroom broth

• 3 cup of water
• 4-inch dried kelp
• 2 dried shiitake mushroom
• 2 green onions

Add all the ingredients in a pot over high heat. Once it starts to boil, lower heat to a simmer for 10 minutes. Discard (or set aside) the kelp and simmer broth for another 10 minutes.

Seasoning

• 2.5 tbsp of gochujang
• 1 tsp gochugaru
• 1 garlic, minced
• 1.5 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp soy sauce

Remove mushroom and green onions and set aside for optional garnish. Add in the seasonings and mix.

 Ingredients

• 1 2oz ramen noodles
• 10 rice cakes
• 2-3 cabbage leaves, sliced into fours
• 1 red chili pepper, sliced (optional)

Add in noodles, rice cakes and cabbage leaves and simmer for an additional 8-10 minutes. The liquid should start to thicken and coat the rice cakes and noodles. Free feel to add a pepper to make it extra spicy. 

Garnish

• 2-3 green onions
• sesame seeds

Slice white ends of green onions and discard. Cut green onion lengthwise into long strands and soak them in cold water for 5 minutes. The green onions should start to tangle together. Garnish with the tangle green onions and sesame seeds and enjoy!

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p.s. If you like this recipe, click the icons below to share and leave a comment below! Make sure to tag me @girlmeetsradish & #girlmeetsradish so I can see what you are making!