Tteokbokki Health Benefits – Korea’s Most Popular Street Food

With the ongoing hype of Korean cultural wave spreading rapidly around the world, sure it leaves some curiosity behind to try out their national dishes. The ever rising demand and trend of tteokbokki is an example that responds well into this phenomenon.

The name “tteokbokki” literally means “stir-fried rice cakes”, and the term “tteok” refers to the long cylinder-shaped rice cakes that is used as the main ingredient of this dish. Interestingly, tteokbokki was originally meant to be a royal dish during the ancient times, but now they are a common street food offering in the cities of Korea. What are some of tteokbokki health benefits?

Variants of Tteokbokki

There are 8 variants of tteokbokki, all which differs through the side ingredients or seasoning bases that make up the whole dish. They are;

1. Haemul Tteokbokki – Health Benefits of Tteokbokki with seafood as its side ingredients.
2. Galbi Tteokbokki – Tteokbokki that uses galbi short ribs as its side ingredients.
3. Rabokki – Tteokbokki with ramyeon noodles.
4. Jeukseok Tteokbokki – Tteokbokki that is served in jeongol hot pot, served as a communal dish with vegetables, noodles and mandu dumplings as it’s add ons.
5. Gochujang Tteokbokki – Tteokbokki with gochujang-based gravy, which also happens to be the most popular variant of the dish.
6. Ganjang Tteokbokki – Tteokbokki that uses sweet and savoury brown soy sauce, known as ganjang sauce as its base.
7. Gireum Tteokbokki – Tteokbokki that is stir fried in oil with light seasoning.
8. Modern Variants of Tteokbokki – Examples include curry tteokbokki, health benefits of Swiss cheese tteokbokki and cream tteokbokki.

What are its Health Benefits?

1. Tteokbokki has Health Benefits of Carbohydrates

The rice cakes of tteokbokki make up the primary source of carbohydrates in the dish by 69 g per serving. They are useful for stocking up the body’s energy supply.

2. Tteokbokki has Protein

Next, the fish cakes of tteokbokki also contributes to protein intake by almost 10%. This makes tteokbokki to be almost ideal for satisfying the core nutrients needed in one meal!

3. Tteokbokki has Benefits of Potassium

Tteokbokki contains potassium, which is used for treating high blood pressure and preventing stroke at a relatively high amount of 182 mg per serving.

4. Tteokbokki has Calories

It also turns out that tteokbokki is also high in calories, which it possesses at 381 kcal. Calories are needed by the body for energy storage.

5. Tteokbokki has Reasonable Amount of Sodium

Tteokbokki has 1069 milligrams of sodium per serving, which is almost close to the recommended daily intake of 1500 milligrams of sodium per adult.

6. Tteokbokki’s Gochujang Sauce Supports Weight Loss

Gochujang sauce supports weight loss thanks to the capsaicin inside the chilli, which holds back appetite and helps to burn fat.

7. Tteokbokki’s Gochujang Sauce is a Probiotic

Gochujang is a probiotic because of the fermentation process it goes through, similar to health benefits of kombucha tea.

8. Tteokbokki’s Gochujang Sauce Eliminates Stress

Study from the Journal of Ethnic Food says that gochujang helps stress reduction, and also cholesterol reduction significantly.

9. Tteokbokki’s Gochujang Sauce Helps Metabolism

Improved metabolism due to gochujang consumption is also possible thanks to the capsaicin present inside the chilli.

10. Tteokbokki’s Gochujang Sauce is Good for Your Heart

Various studies have shown that countries where its cuisines tend to be hot and spicy have a higher protection against heart diseases. So perhaps, gochujang or tteokbokki could also contribute to this observation!

How to Cook Tteokbokki

Main Ingredients

• 350 g of Korean rice cakes
• 150 g of Korean fish cakes
• 2 cups of anchovy and kelp soup stock
• 60 g of onion
• 1 teaspoon of roasted sesame seeds
• 1 teaspoon of sesame oil
• 1 stalk of finely chopped green onion

Sauce Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons of Gochujang (Korean chilli paste)
• 5 tablespoons of raw sugar
• 1 tablespoon of soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon of minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon of gochugaru (Korean chilli flakes)

Steps

1. First, soak the cakes in warm water for 10 minutes until they get soft.
2. Boil the soup stock in a shallow pot at medium heat then stir it to dissolve the sauce. Once it boils, add the rice cakes, fish cakes and onion.
3. Boil the recently added items for another 3 to 5 minutes until it cooks. To thicken the broth and to intensify the flavour, lower down the heat and let it simmer for 2 to 4 minutes.
4. Finally, add the sesame oil, sesame seeds and green onions as garnish.
5. Tteokbokki is now ready to be served warm!