Is Tteokbokki Vegetarian + Vegetarian Korean Spicy Rice Cake Recipe

Published Categorized as Journal

If you’re a vegetarian and have ever thought about sampling Tteokbokki, you may have been left wondering, “Is Tteokbokki vegetarian?” That’s an excellent question. Because Tteokbokki is often served with very savory and umami-flavored sauces and cakes, you do well to ask before trying it without knowing the full answer. So, is Tteokbokki vegetarian?

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Is Tteokbokki Vegetarian – Vegetarian Korean Spicy Rice Cake Recipe

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Vegetarian Korean Spicy Rice Cake (Tteokbokki) Recipe

  • Author: Anna
  • Cuisine: Korean

Ingredients

Scale
  • 3 tablespoons gochujang
  • 2 tablespoons maple syrup
  • 1 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 2 cloves of minced garlic
  • ½ teaspoons gochugaru
  • 10 ounces Korean rice cakes
  • 1 ½ cup water
  • 1 stalk green onions cut into strips
  • 1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds (for garnish)

Optional

  • 5 ounces vegan cocktail sausages
  • 1 batch of vegan “fish” cakes

Instructions

  1. Mix together gochujang, maple syrup, soy sauce, minced garlic, and gochugaru in a bowl. Mix until very well incorporated.
  2. Once the spicy sauce ingredients have been mixed, transfer the sauce to a skillet. Turn the stove on to medium heat.
  3. Carefully add your rice cakes. Then add your 1 ½ cups of water to the mixture. Stir to coat.
  4. Allow the ingredients to simmer for about 8 minutes.
  5. After 8 minutes is complete you may stir in the green onions. You may also add your vegan cocktail sausages and vegan fish cakes if you have opted to use them.
  6. Allow this mixture to continue simmering over medium heat for another 8 minutes.
  7. Your sauce will eventually become very thick. Once the sauce has thickened, you’ll be ready to serve. If the sauce becomes a little too thick, feel free to adjust the consistency with a bit more water.
  8. Divide your vegan Tteokbokki into small bowls and top with sesame seeds for garnish.

Notes

  • Store your Tteokbokki in the refrigerator for up to 2 days or you may opt to freeze it.
  • When reheating, do so for around 8 minutes or until fully heated through.
  • If the sauce becomes too thick, feel free to add additional water.
     

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Is Korean Tteokbokki Vegetarian?

Kind of. Tteokbokki are spicy Korean rice cakes. These cakes are a popular Korean street food that embodies vegetable broth, sesame oil, hot pepper paste (or gochujang paste) all of which make the Tteokbokki sauce. This is then ladled over rice cakes made with rice flour creating delicious Tteokbokki.

With these ingredients in mind, one might assume that Tteokbokki is indeed vegetarian. However, there are other factors to consider when giving a complete answer to this question.

Can a Vegetarian Eat Tteokbokki?

In its original form, a vegetarian can safely consume traditional Tteokbokki. But as previously mentioned, things aren’t always that cut and dry.

As with many foods, Tteokbokki is a type of Korean cuisine that can be highly variable.

For example, Tteokbokki is often served with fish cakes, anchovy broth, and meat based products. When served this way, a vegetarian would not be able to consume the meal as it would contain meat products.

Because of this reality, it is very important that you know what’s in your Tteokbokki if you are a vegetarian. Without this information, you may be consuming meat or meat products without your knowledge. Even something as simple as chicken or anchovy broth may be lurking in your Tteokbokki, so please, be sure to ask around to ensure your meal is vegetarian-friendly before eating.

Does Tteokbokki Have Meat in It?

Tteokbokki can have meat. But it doesn’t always.

When prepared in the most basic manner, Tteokbokki will be vegetarian. Having said that, there are times when these chewy rice cakes will be served with meat. 

Serving Tteokbokki with fish cakes or meat products is relatively common in Korean cuisine. It is for this reason I recommend you ask around before eating your Tteokbokki to make sure your Korean spicy rice cakes are vegetarian-friendly.

Do Rice Cakes Have Meat?

Rice cakes, in and of themselves, don’t typically contain meat. This makes them an ideal choice for both vegetarians and vegans alike.

However, when rice cakes are topped with sauces or served alongside other dishes, you may have reason to worry.

Tteokbokki, or rice cake, is a Korean food that is often mixed with vegetables, sauce, and sometimes meat. Because of this, it is imperative that you know what you’re eating and what ingredients were involved when making the meal. This way you can ensure that you are making the most informed decision possible before choosing to consume the dish.

Tteokbokki And Meat

Though Tteokbokki Korean street food doesn’t always have meat, it can! The following are the most common questions people pose when it comes to Tteok containing meat.

Let’s dig a little deeper into the answer to this question now.

Does Tteokbokki Have Pig?

Though Tteokbokki isn’t traditionally served with pork, it isn’t a foreign concept.

There are plenty of recipes out there that combine delicious rice cakes with pork and a spicy sauce. Thus, while you won’t typically have to worry about pork being in your Tteok, you may occasionally come across a restaurant or recipe that offers it this way.

Is Tteokbokki Vegetarian

Does Tteokbokki Have Fish?

Tteokbokki can oftentimes contain fish or fish ingredients. This is because this popular and spicy Korean dish can be served with fish cakes and sometimes even anchovy-based broth.

If you are concerned about this possibility, be sure to speak with the person preparing the Tteokbokki to ensure that no meat products were used in the preparation of your Tteokbokki.

Does Tteokbokki Contain Egg?

While Tteokbokki doesn’t usually have egg, it can sometimes be served with egg as a side dish or as tossed within the dish.

Of course, eggs aren’t necessarily considered off the menu for vegetarians, though some vegetarians may elect to opt-out.

Remember that egg is almost always considered non-vegan, so if you are vegan and wish to not have egg in your Tteok, simply have the person preparing it to leave it out.

Is Tteokbokki Vegetarian – Vegetarian Korean Spicy Rice Cake Recipe

Why Is Tteokbokki Not Vegan?

Like many other dishes out there in the world today, Tteokbokki can be made vegan by using the right ingredients.

As mentioned before, Tteokbokki is usually made with sliced rice cakes, Korean red pepper paste, garlic, onions, sesame oil, and sometimes sesame seeds. In this way, Tteokbokki would be vegan, assuming you ensure that each of these ingredients is definitely vegan (most of them are).

Still, because Tteokbokki is a Korean dish that is also often sold or made with meat, it isn’t always suitable for people following a vegan diet. Instead, these people should look to taking up Korean cooking at home to create their own delicious vegan recipe, or simply look to consume only vegan-friendly teok instead.

Tteokbokki Vegetarian Recipe

Ingredients

  • 3 tablespoons gochujang
  • 2 tablespoons maple syrup
  • 1 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 2 cloves of minced garlic
  • ½ teaspoons gochugaru
  • 10 ounces Korean rice cakes
  • 1 ½ cup water
  • 1 stalk green onions cut into strips
  • 1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds (for garnish)

Optional

  • 5 ounces vegan cocktail sausages
  • 1 batch of vegan “fish” cakes

Instructions

  1. Mix together gochujang, maple syrup, soy sauce, minced garlic, and gochugaru in a bowl. Mix until very well incorporated.
  2. Once the spicy sauce ingredients have been mixed, transfer the sauce to a skillet. Turn the stove on to medium heat.
  3. Carefully add your rice cakes. Then add your 1 ½ cups of water to the mixture. Stir to coat.
  4. Allow the ingredients to simmer for about 8 minutes.
  5. After 8 minutes is complete you may stir in the green onions. You may also add your vegan cocktail sausages and vegan fish cakes if you have opted to use them.
  6. Allow this mixture to continue simmering over medium heat for another 8 minutes.
  7. Your sauce will eventually become very thick. Once the sauce has thickened, you’ll be ready to serve. If the sauce becomes a little too thick, feel free to adjust the consistency with a bit more water.
  8. Divide your vegan Tteokbokki into small bowls and top with sesame seeds for garnish.

Store your Tteokbokki in the refrigerator for up to 2 days or you may opt to freeze it. When reheating, do so for around 8 minutes or until fully heated through. Again, if the sauce becomes too thick, feel free to add additional water.

Is Tteokbokki Vegetarian – Vegetarian Korean Spicy Rice Cake Recipe

Is Tteokbokki Vegetarian? Sometimes!

While Tteokbokki isn’t always vegetarian, when it is made in its most basic format it can be. Beware of sneaky ingredients lurking in Tteokbokki such as anchovy broth, fish cakes, egg (if you’re vegan), and meat.

Remember that you can just as easily cook Tteokbokki at home which allows you to control everything from the ingredients to the spice level of the dish. You can try this easy recipe for rose tteokbokki!

I hope this has helped to answer the question, “Is Tteokbokki vegetarian?” Until next time! 

FAQs

Why is Tteokbokki not vegan?

There are many reasons that Tteokbokki wouldn’t be considered vegan. Remember that some types of Tteokbokki may be made of broths that contain meat. Moreover, Tteokbokki is oftentimes served with hardboiled eggs, fish cakes, and even other types of meat. Therefore, it is imperative that if you follow a vegan diet you find out what exactly makes up your Tteokbokki before you decide to eat it.

Is Tteokbokki halal?

If the Tteokbokki contains meat, you will have to determine whether or not the specific Tteokbokki you’ve chosen has been prepared in such a way to be considered halal. Some Tteok containing meat may and some may not. Having said that, since there are many types of Tteok that don’t contain meat at all, you can certainly sample these meatless Tteok dishes as a delicious addition to your diet! 

Is Tteokbokki gluten free?

This question is tricky to answer. if the Tteok itself is made solely from rice, then it will be gluten-free. However, if the sauce or other food accompaniments contain soy or wheat or any kind, then the Tteokbokki meal can no longer be considered gluten-free.

Is Tteokbokki dairy free?

Traditionally, Tteokbokki doesn’t contain dairy. However, there are some recipes, and possibly some restaurants that may add their own creative flair to the dish by adding cheese to it. If you’re worried about cheese lurking in your Tteokbokki don’t be afraid to raise a few questions about the dish before digging in.

Is Tteokbokki good the next day?

It can be. Recall that Tteokbokki only last in the fridge 2 days before starting to go rancid. If you consume it before then and add a bit of water to the mix to help the consistency, your Tteokbokki should taste fine. Just be careful when microwaving it. Some microwaves change the consistency of the dish. It’s recommended to reheat it over stovetop instead.

Vegetarian Tteokbokki Recipe

While Tteokbokki isn’t always vegetarian, when it is made in its most basic format it can be. Here's a vegetarian version!

Type: main

Cuisine: Korean

Cooking Time: 16 mins

Recipe Ingredients:

  • 3 tablespoons gochujang
  • 2 tablespoons maple syrup
  • 1 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 2 cloves of minced garlic
  • ½ teaspoons gochugaru
  • 10 ounces Korean rice cakes
  • 1 ½ cup water
  • 1 stalk green onions, cut into strips
  • 1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds (for garnish)
  • 5 ounces vegan cocktail sausages (optional)
  • 5 ounces vegan cocktail sausages (optional)

Recipe Instructions:

Mix Initial Ingredients:

Mix together gochujang, maple syrup, soy sauce, minced garlic, and gochugaru in a bowl. Mix until very well incorporated.

Transfer to Skillet:

Once the spicy sauce ingredients have been mixed, transfer the sauce to a skillet. Turn the stove on to medium heat.

Add Korean Rice Cakes:

Carefully add your rice cakes. Then add your 1 ½ cups of water to the mixture. Stir to coat.

Simmer:

Allow the ingredients to simmer for about 8 minutes.

Add Onions and Optional Ingredients:

After 8 minutes is complete you may stir in the green onions. You may also add your vegan cocktail sausages and vegan fish cakes if you have opted to use them.

Simmer More:

Allow this mixture to continue simmering over medium heat for another 8 minutes.

Thicken Sauce:

Your sauce will eventually become very thick. Once the sauce has thickened, you’ll be ready to serve. If the sauce becomes a little too thick, feel free to adjust the consistency with a bit more water.

Serve:

Divide your vegan Tteokbokki into small bowls and top with sesame seeds for garnish.

Published
Categorized as Journal

By Anna

Anna Brooks, the voice behind CooksDream.com, is a seasoned writer and editor with an insatiable love for food. While not a professional chef, her culinary adventures and unique insights have captivated readers for years. Anna believes in the transformative power of food, stating it "feeds the soul." Dive into her writings for a mix of inspiration, entertainment, and culinary wisdom. Author Pinterest Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube Tumblr Reddit Quora

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