Let the fried rice rest. Korean rice cakes add heart-pounding texture to stir-fry
Cynthia L. Herzog
4 min read
It brings me so much joy to make fried rice. There’s something exciting and satisfying about taking day-old rice and breathing new life into it. I get a similar feeling from a remix of a song I’ve heard too many times, or when I see a street with a bunch of new parklets that gives the same space a new, almost electric feel with activity.
For the rice, I sizzle a few orphan shallots or an overlooked carrot in a hot skillet, cook it quickly, wrap it in leftover rice, an egg, and it’s something new, d ‘exciting. It’s a godsend if I have bacon, maybe a hearty green. It’s not only delicious, it helps to dent the random contents of my fridge. It’s also a bit like spring cleaning.
But what ruins that fantasy is that I don’t often have leftover rice. (If you have extra rice, see J. Kenji López-Alt’s Kimchi-and-Spam Fried Rice Recipe, page 7.)
That’s when I realize I have Korean rice cake sticks in my freezer. Usually sold as tteokbokki rice cake sticks, they look like ivory-white sticks jumbled up in a plastic bag. Like rice, the flavor combinations they work with are kind of endless. All I have to do is soak them in cold water and then sauté them with whatever vegetables I have. Unlike storing leftover rice, no meal planning is required.
When the rice cake sticks hit that hot, oiled skillet, they turn crispy on the outside and chewy like a gummy bear on the inside. It’s different and more interesting than the texture of fried rice. It’s what you might call “unique” – a word I don’t use often.
Rice cake sticks are a form of rice cake from the large rice cake family called tteok. They are made from short grain rice flour, hot water and a little salt. Once the dough is made, it is steamed and then formed by hand into long cylinders called garaetteok before being cut into small cylinders/sticks which I buy. Emily Kim, better known as Maangchi, offers a quick tutorial on making fresh rice cake sticks on her Korean cooking site (maangchi.com), and just looking at it makes me feel like to be a garaetteok expert.
Did you know that these rice cakes are not reserved for the pan? They can also be fried or served softened and fluffy in soups and stews. But my favorite way to eat them is stir-fried, like in this Bacon, Pea, and Lemon Crispy Rice Cake Stir-Fry.
I find them at the Duc Loi supermarket in San Francisco, but any well-stocked Korean market or Asian grocer should have them. In most of the Bay Area, Instacart can also deliver these rice cake sticks right to your door.
This recipe is basically a quick stir-fry with the short cylindrical cut of garaetteok. While I soak the rice cakes, I cook the bacon until crispy and browned. Then I use this fat with a mixture of olive oil to sauté cabbage and snow peas with a comforting mixture of garlic and shallots. The result is both casual and special. With a little fish sauce, lots of fresh lemon juice, chopped dill, and fresh peppery radishes, I feel like I made a remix, but it’s just dinner.
Christian Reynoso is a chef, recipe developer and writer. Originally from Sonoma, he lives in San Francisco. Email: [email protected] Instagram: @christianreynoso Twitter: @xtianreynoso
Crispy and fluffy rice cake stir-fry with bacon, peas and lemon
4 servings
This quick stir-fry comes together in just over 30 minutes, so it seems very suitable for weeknights. Korean rice cakes, also known as garaetteok and often sold as “tteokbokki rice cake sticks”, can be found at most well-stocked Asian grocers. When sautéed in a pan, they become crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.
12 ounces of rice cake sticks, chilled or frozen
6 ounces of bacon (about 6 to 8 slices), coarsely chopped
2 cups coarsely chopped cabbage
5 tablespoons olive oil (optional)
8 ounces (about 2 cups) snow peas, trimmed
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 small shallots, finely chopped
5 baby radishes, thinly sliced
½ cup coarsely chopped dill
¼ cup of fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons of fish sauce
Soak the rice cakes in cold water for 25 minutes, then drain and dry them thoroughly.
While the rice cakes are soaking, heat a large sauté pan over medium heat. Once hot, add the bacon and cook, stirring often (scraping the bottom of the pan so the brown bits don’t stick), until browned and crispy, about 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer the bacon to a large bowl, drain and set aside the fat.
Increase the heat to medium-high and add 1 tablespoon of olive oil or bacon grease (chef’s choice) to the pan. Once hot, add the snow peas and sear until they are well blistered on the bottom. Transfer to the bowl with the bacon. Add another 1 tablespoon of olive oil or bacon grease to the pan and add the cabbage, garlic, shallot and a big pinch of salt. Sauté, stirring often, until cabbage is wilted and garlic and shallot are softened but not browned. Transfer to the bowl of bacon and peas and wipe out the pan.
Add 3 tablespoons of olive oil, or a mixture of olive oil and bacon fat, to the skillet. Once hot, carefully place the rice cakes in the pan (in batches if it seems too crowded) and let the bottom side sizzle and crisp until golden brown (about 5 minutes); Gently flip the cakes over so they are crispy on the other side, about 4-5 minutes longer. Then return to the large bowl. Add the radish, dill, lemon juice, fish sauce and toss to coat well. Season to taste with salt, a pinch of crushed chili flakes and serve.
