Hello friends…

So. I love dduk. Not quack quack duck, but chewy rice cake dduk. I googled the word “dduk” but there wasn’t much information. So then I tried googling “tteok” which got many more hits… see what I mean about the spelling of Korean stuff??

Anyway, there are lots of recipes on how to make Korean dishes with dduk/tteok, but I wanted to share how I like to eat mine. I made this recipe up a few years ago when I had some leftovers, and have continued to make it since. Dduk is normally only good on the day that it is made, and once in the refrigerator it becomes really hard.

Crispy Fried Dduk (Kaprise Kitchen Original)

• Several pieces of plain dduk, cut into pieces (Make sure your pieces are dry, any moisture will cause the oil to splutter)
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoon of sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon of soy sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon of sugar

1. In a non-stick skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat
2. One the oil is heated, gently slide the dduk into the pan, be sure to leave a little space between the pieces of dduk so they don’t stick.
3. Cook until the dduk is crispy and golden, flip to the other side and cook until crisp and golden (I fry mine for about 5 minutes on each side, but keep an eye on your so it doesn’t burn)
4. Remove the pan from heat
5. Drizzle the sesame oil and soy sauce over the crisped dduk as you swirl the pan, coating the pieces in the sesame and soy sauce. The combination will sizzle so move quickly.
6. Sprinkle the sugar over the coated pieces of dduk
7. Plate and eat!

Notes:

• There are many varieties of Korean rice cakes… endless in fact. However, this recipe works best with the plain, white, string dduk. It is normally sold in Korean grocery stores in little styrofoam pans. I normally used left over dduk that has been refrigerated, so the dduk is hard. This helps the dduk crisp in the oil as you cook it. 
• If you are unfamiliar with dduk, you can visit Maangachi to learn more about dduk. I believe that website uses the “tteok” spelling, but here are some links to the pages I thought were helpful: the dduk I used, how to make dduk-bokki, and how to make plain white dduk.

Have you ever tried dduk? Also, any miscellaneous questions about dduk, please let me know! I know it is still pretty novel in the States.