Fried Tteokbokki (Korean Rice Cakes)

Chef Daero Lee elevates the simple Korean rice cake for a clever (and flavourful) take on the quintessential Korean snack.

Soul Dining chef Daero Lee recalls grabbing after-class snacks at a stationery stall near school. “My favourite was tteokkochi,” he says. These savoury skewers – a cross between a tteokbokki recipe and Korean fried chicken – are sweetened with a ketchup-powered sauce. The chef has removed the signature stick and crafted his own version for Soul Dining’s tteokbokki recipe.

• 300 gm tteokbokki (rice cakes)
• 500 ml (2 cups) vegetable oil, plus extra for drizzing
• Roasted black and white sesame seeds, to serve

• 125 ml (½ cup) tomato sauce (ketchup)
• 80 ml (⅓ cup) Korean rice syrup or corn syrup
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 tbsp gochujang paste
• 1 tbsp caster sugar
• 1 tbsp soy sauce