If we all have memories of Korea, those memories often include the snacks or street foods we enjoyed as children.

To me, tteokbokki was not just a snack in my childhood.

After school, walking down the alley with friends, there was always the sight of the steaming red pot at the snack shop.

The rice cakes and fish cakes bubbling away, and the unique spicy and sweet aroma of gochujang filled the alley, making my steps quicken.

"Auntie, please give me 1,000 won worth of tteokbokki!" With that one phrase, I would receive a plate the size of my palm filled with rice cakes, fish cakes, and a bit of broth.

Looking back now, that amount wasn't much, but I was so happy at the time.

For Koreans, tteokbokki is a familiar food from childhood.

The tteokbokki eaten while chatting with friends in front of the school, the special tteokbokki bought after exams, and the tteokbokki from street vendors that I crave on rainy days...

At some point, tteokbokki seems to have become a food that evokes 'memories' more than 'taste.' So for Koreans, tteokbokki is a food strongly tied to nostalgia. The warm moments of childhood are infused like seasoning, and every time the spicy flavor hits my mouth, the laughter and warmth of those times come rushing back.

On the other hand, when I introduce tteokbokki to foreign friends, the reactions are mixed. The sweet and spicy sauce is unfamiliar, and the chewy texture of the rice cakes is not something they are used to.

Especially those who are sensitive to spice often reach for water after the first bite.

It's just spicy without the cheesy flavor like fire chicken, haha.

Even while living in the U.S., I've made tteokbokki several times for foreign friends, but the reactions were more along the lines of "Interesting" rather than "Delicious."

In fact, I think tteokbokki is a food that you need to eat from childhood to truly appreciate its charm. The comfort that familiarity brings, along with the memories contained within, completes the flavor.

However, the charm of market-style tteokbokki is something that anyone who is Korean would love. Especially, the generous broth of market tteokbokki is infused with the deep umami of fish cake stock. You can recreate that taste at home.

Let me introduce my frequently made recipe for generous market tteokbokki broth.

[Ingredients]

• 400g of tteokbokki rice cakes (soaked in water until soft)

• 3-4 pieces of fish cake (cut into bite-sized pieces)

• 1 green onion (sliced diagonally)

• 1.2 liters of water

• 10 anchovies, 1 piece of kelp (for stock)

• 3 tablespoons of gochujang

• 2 tablespoons of gochugaru

• 1 tablespoon of soy sauce

• 2 tablespoons of sugar

• 2 tablespoons of oligosaccharide

• 1 tablespoon of minced garlic

[Instructions]

1. Pour water into a pot and add anchovies and kelp, boiling for 10 minutes to make the stock. Remove the kelp first during boiling.

2. Add gochujang, gochugaru, soy sauce, sugar, and minced garlic to the stock and mix well.

3. Add the soaked rice cakes and fish cakes, and boil on medium heat for about 5-7 minutes.

4. When the rice cakes become soft, add the green onion and oligosaccharide, and boil once more.

5. Adjust the heat to ensure there is plenty of broth left without reducing it too much, and it's done.

The tteokbokki made this way has a spicy yet refreshing flavor, and after finishing the rice cakes, adding fish cakes or ramen noodles to the leftover broth makes for another meal. Sometimes, while making tteokbokki at home, I recall the times I laughed and ate with friends in my childhood. Perhaps that is the true power of tteokbokki. A food that bubbles up with memories and flavors, making it always special.