RECIPE: TTEOKBOKKI MAC + CHEESE
Tteokbokki Mac + Cheese — grilled mozzarella, almost ready…
A simple and satisfying lunch or supper for one especially for cold days in lockdown.
Made on a whim to help our daughter complete a food-tech assignment. But it worked out - so we thought we’d share it here.
If you’ve ever had Mac ‘n’ Cheese or lovely cheesy tteokbokki then you’ll know this is gonna be good !
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and look for our Lockdown recipes in our stories:
You’ll need
250g Tteokbokki / Korean rice cakes - from Wang’s (or your local Korean corner store)
200g Silken tofu
100g or a handful of fresh spinach
2T Gochujang
2T Light or GF soy
2T Mirin
50g mozzarella
Pinch of salt
Lightly toasted sesame seeds
1 x Spring onion white part only, finely sliced (not pictured - Stu reckoned afterwards)
1T Rice flour
Grapeseed or other flavourless oil for frying
For the breadcrumb topping:
1C fresh breadcrumbs
(blitz a stale piece of baguette if you have one, or at a pinch you can use Panko crumbs)
1T Crispy shallots
(Tai Ping, Wang’s or make at home)
2 rashers of free-range streaky bacon
Method
Turn the grill on to heat.
Sweat the spinach in a pan with a little sesame oil + a pinch of salt. Once wilted remove from heat + stir the sesame seeds through. Set aside.
Whisk the silken tofu in a bowl until smooth, it will take on a creamy texture. Add a pinch of salt for flavour. Set aside.
Make the Gochujang sauce - whisk together the Gochujang, Soy and Mirin in a bowl until well combined.
Make the breadcrumb topping — In the same blender you’ve just blitzed the baguette (chopped into cubes, crust removed), add the crispy shallots. Cook the bacon rashers in a pan until nice and crispy and let cool. Chop the bacon into very small pieces, like grains of rice (to help the blender do a quick job and make sure the crumb doesn’t turn into a wet paste). Add the bacon to the blender and blitz on high for 10 seconds or so JUST until you have a lovely tasting fine crumb!
Heat oil in a pan, enough for aprox 5mm. Toss the tteokbokki in the rice flour and shallow fry them on a high heat. You want them to crisp up one side for a minute, and then turn and do the other side for another minute. Something to be mindful of — rice cakes will explode ! if fried for too long, so it’s really just a minute each side in the hot oil. (Stand back from the pan) Try not to overcrowd the pan either, as they will stick to each other as they cook.
Once the rice cakes are done, drain them on a paper towel and then toss them through the Gochujang sauce and finely sliced spring onion (not pictured).
In a small oven dish — layer the spinach + sesame on the bottom, followed by a layer of the silken tofu, spread thick to cover. Then a layer of the spicy ricecakes in gochujang, followed by a generous layer of mozzarella.
Under the grill, grill until the mozzarella is golden and bubbling. Then as a final touch, add a generous handful of the breadcrumb mixture and grill until toasted. (It will only need a minute or so, will burn quickly if over done).
The end result is a deliciously gooey, rich, spicy Korean inspired lunch or supper for one. Scale this up for a friend, or serve it as a side dish with your dinner — We love you Beasty ! Enjoy.