This gorgeous creamy whipped avocado crema pairs perfectly with your favorite protein, as a dip for your favorite veggies, and is perfect even as a salad dressing. It is rich, yet bright, spicy, and full of only whole food ingredients. Light and dreamy and the perfect healthy addition to any savory meal.
Ingredients:
10 oz Keto Korean Rice Cakes
5 dried anchovies
1-2 tbsp Lakanto Classic
1-3 tsp gochugaru
2 tsp coconut aminos
1/4 c keto gochujang
avocado oil
1-2 green onion
1 1/2 c water
Tools:
heavy bottom pot
non-stick pan
tea filter ball
spatula
tongs
Optional:
1/4 small cabbage
fishcake*
xanthan gum*
keto glass noodles
soft-boiled egg
sesame seeds
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Tteokppokki is the most popular street food that South Korea is known for. You can see young school kids, the elderly and everyone in between lined up at small kiosks, tarp-covered stands, and at restaurants waiting to eat this chewy, spicy, comforting dish. It also comes in many variations with ramen noodles, ultra-processed mozzarella cheese (it’s good– trust me), extreme spice levels, etc. I will be sharing with you the most common version you will find in Korea.
Tteokppokki is well-rounded: sweet, spicy and salty all work together in harmony and one flavor doesn’t overpower the others.
Start by gathering all of the tools and ingredients.
Boil water in the heavy bottom pot.
Clean the dried anchovies by removing the head and guts. Place the cleaned anchovies to the tea filter ball and place into the heavy bottom pot. Boil for 20 minutes.
While the water is transforming into a beautiful, umami rich stock, chop the green onion, cabbage and fishcakes. Cabbage is something my family has always added to our tteokppokki and I really love the added crunch and sweetness, but it’s not something you see often. Fishcake is almost always used in tteokppokki, but I’m near positive it is not what most would consider “keto-friendly.” I add a few slices and say YOLO, but if you are practicing “strict keto” I think that any thinly sliced cuts of protein would be great– beef, pork, chicken, good quality hot dog even. Set aside.
Remove the tea filter ball and add the keto gochujang, Lakanto Classic, coconut aminos, gochugaru to taste, until it becomes a smooth sauce. If you’d like a thicker consistency, add the tiniest bit of xanthan gum, about 1/32 tsp. Add the cabbage and fishcakes if you please and cook until desired doneness– I like my cabbage quite crunchy, so I don’t cook it for too long. Take it off the heat and set it aside.
Set the stove to med-high and place a generous amount of oil to the bottom of the non-stick pan. Place the keto rice cakes in the pan leaving a bit of space between each rice cake and leave it alone for at least one minute or until the rice cake lifts from the pan easily and has developed nice browning. Crowding the pan will create steam which prevents browning from happening and browning is flavor. If you go to flip the rice cake and you feel any resistance, leave it alone! This may take a couple batches if you are using a smaller pan. Brown the keto Korean rice cakes on as many sides as you have the patience for, but minimum two. Place the rice cakes on a serving plate. Try one now while it’s super hot. So good.
Bring the sauce back to desired temperature and then gently pour it over the rice cakes on the serving plate. Garnish with green onions, sesame seeds and a hard or soft boiled egg if you’d like and that’s it! You’re done!
These days in Korea you will often find tteokppokki served with ramen noodles, jjolmyeon noodles, ultra-processed mozzarella cheese (Don’t use the good stuff! Trust me!), etc. Keto glass noodles are a great substitute for jjolmyeon noodles and lucky for us, mozzarella is a go on keto! Good luck and enjoy! – Jihae