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Rabokki – Korean Ramen and Tteokbokki

20/04/2023

Ignite your taste buds with this 20 minute rabokki, the ultimate Korean street food fusion! Packed with chewy tteok rice cakes and ramen noodles in a fiery gochujang sauce.

Pot of rabokki with fish cakes, boiled eggs and topped with sesame seeds and spring onion.

Why We Love This

Rabokki is the perfect weeknight dinner or no fuss homemade lunch –  ready in just 20 minutes!

The epic combination of chewy rice cakes and ramen noodles is made even better with the fiery gochujang sauce. 

Like all good homemade recipes, you can tweak the spice levels to make it hotter or calm it down. You can even add extra ingredients to make it your own, such as veggies, kimchi, tofu or dumplings

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Tteokbokki is one of Laura’s FAVOURITE all time dishes. She loves anything with noodles and fish cakes. Combine these altogether and this dish is the new winner.

Related: Non-Spicy Tteokbokki / Tteokkochi / Yaki Udon

Ramen noodles hang from a pair of wooden chopsticks.

What is Rabokki? 

Rabokki (also known as rapokki / 라볶이) is a fusion of two popular South Korean street food dishes: Korean tteokbokki and ramen (known in Korean as ramyun or ramyeon). 

In Korea you’ll usually find it at bunsikjip snack bars or pojangmacha street stalls, but it’s also very easy to make at home. 
Rabokki starts with a fiery gochujang sauce seasoned with gochugaru chilli flakes, soy sauce and garlic. Along with chewy garaetteok rice cakes and instant ramen noodles, it’s sometimes made with Korean fish cakes known as eomuk along with cabbage and spring onion.

What You’ll Need

  • Garaetteok (가래떡 / Korean Rice Cakes) – These are the chewy cylindrical rice cakes you’ll find in other Korean dishes like dakgalbi. We usually buy them frozen from our local Asian supermarket. The best place to look for them is the fridge or freezer section of Korean convenience stores or Asian groceries, but you can also find them dried. 
  • Ramen Noodles – We use dry instant ramen noodles (known as ramyun in Korea) for this recipe, but you can also use shelf fresh noodles cooked to packet directions. Sub with homemade udon noodles if you like! The key is to make sure they’re wheat based noodles, which have that delicious chewy texture and will hold their shape in the broth much better than rice noodles. 
  • Korean Fish Cakes / Eomuk – We buy these frozen from Asian grocery stores that focus on Korean or Japanese ingredients. They often come in long sheets, which you can cut into rectangles or triangles. You can also buy a mix of shapes in Korean odeng kits (similar or Japanese oden hot pot) if you want to mix it up a bit!
  • Gochujang / Korean Hot Pepper Paste – One of the key flavours in Korean cuisine. While it is spicy, it has more of a well-rounded, sweet tomato flavour rather than just pure chilli heat. (Note: You can buy an extra hot version if you want!). It’s available at Asian groceries, well stocked supermarkets in the international aisle, or online. If you can’t source it, you can make a paste out of regular red chilli flakes mixed with sugar and a dash of soy. Use 1 tablespoon of chilli flakes for every tablespoon of gochujang required. 
  • Gochugaru / Korean Red Chilli Flakes – It may also be labelled as Korean hot pepper powder. Most brands have clear packaging so you can see the product inside (which is important). Ideally you should buy the flakes, NOT the powdered version. Look for it at Asian supermarkets or online. Sub with half the listed amount of cayenne pepper or regular chilli powder.
  • Dashi Stock Powder – Known as yuksu in Korean or dashi in Japanese. The Japanese version tends to be more widely available and there are two main styles you can choose from: kombu dashi (vegan friendly, less intense flavour made from seaweed) or katsuo dashi (more intense umami flavour, made with anchovy). Sub with vegetable or chicken stock if you prefer. 

Other Ingredients – You’ll need soy sauce, sugar and sesame oil for the sauce, along with boiled eggs (or soft boiled ramen eggs with runny yolks), spring onions / green onions and toasted sesame seeds to garnish.

Ingredients laid out to make Korean rabokki.

How to Make Korean Ramen and Tteokbokki at home:

First, gather your ingredients: See recipe card below for measurements.

  1. Add the gochujanggochugarusugargarlicdashi powder and soy sauce into a large wok or saucepan. Pour water over and stir until evenly mixed, then bring to the boil (around 2-4 minutes).
  2. Add the tteok rice cakes and bring back to the boil, then simmer for around 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until the rice cakes have started to soften.
  3. Now add in the fish cakescabbagespring onion / green onion and boiled eggs.
  1. Finally, place in the instant ramen noodles. Continue cooking for another 5 – 10 minutes until the sauce starts to thicken and the ramen noodles are cooked through.
  2. Just before serving, stir in the sesame oil. Transfer to serving plates and garnish with more spring onion / green onion and sesame seeds.

Wandercook’s Tips

  • Extra Flavour – Use the packet of flavouring from your noodles to tweak the taste of your dish. We love using the Korean Kimchi Ramyun flavouring, or you might like the popular and spicy Nongshim Shin Ramyun.
  • Storage – Store in the saucepan in the fridge ready to reheat the next day, or store in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer.

FAQs

What’s the best way to reheat rabokki?

We usually put the whole pot in the fridge overnight with the lid on, and will reheat the next day on the stove. We pour over around 1/2 cup of water loosen up the sauce, as the rice cakes and noodles will have soaked a lot up. Then reheat on low-medium for around 5 minutes, or until simmering nicely. We find this way softens the rice cakes nicely.

You can also reheat in the microwave, but still add a little extra water and give it a quick stir before heating it up.

Note: It won’t be as good the next day, and the ramen noodles will be softer, but still delicious!

What should I serve with this?

Rabokki is plenty filling on its own, but if you want to round it out with extra side dishes we recommend serving with a range of light Korean banchan side dishes like pickled daikon, bean sprout salad (sujku namul) or seasoned spinach (sigeumchi namul).

How can I make it less spicy?

If you struggle with spice, you can reduce the heat level by using less gochujang and/or gochugaru, and might also like to add a little extra stock to cool it down even further. 

P.S. If you love non spicy Korean recipes, check out our gungjung tteokbokki with soy based sauce!

Variations

  • Make it Vegan – Omit the eggs or swap for veggies or vegan kimchi, swap fish cakes for firm tofu and use kombu dashi for the stock.
  • Add Dumplings – Such as Japanese style gyoza will make the dish go even further!
  • Add Cheese – Add a handful of grated cheese or a few slices of mozzarella for extra cheesy goodness.
  • Add Kimchi – The extra funky flavour of homemade kimchi really kicks up the flavour!
  • Make it a Rosé Rabokki! – Stir through half a cup of heavy cream just before you switch off the heat.
Rabokki topped with boiled eggs and spring onion.

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★ Did you make this recipe? Please leave a comment and a star rating below!

A saucepan filled with rabokki favourites including fish cakes, egg, rice cakes and ramen.

Rabokki – Korean Ramen and Tteokbokki

Ignite your taste buds with this 20 minute rabokki, the ultimate Korean street food fusion! Packed with chewy tteok rice cakes and ramen noodles in a fiery gochujang sauce.
5 from 3 votes
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes
Course: Dinner
Cuisine: Korean
Servings: 2 serves
Calories: 759kcal
Author: Wandercooks
Cost: $10

Equipment

Ingredients

For the rabokki sauce:

For the rabokki fillings:

  • 150 g Korean rice cakes (tteok) 5.29 oz (if dried – soak overnight, if frozen, use as is)
  • 120 g ramen noodles 4.23 oz / 1 packet ramyun
  • 150 g Korean fish cakes / eomuk 5.29 oz, defrosted and sliced into triangles
  • 1 cup cabbage roughly chopped
  • 2 spring onion sliced diagonally
  • 2 boiled eggs

To garnish:

  • 1 spring onion / green onion some reserved as garnish
  • 1 tsp sesame oil
  • ½ tbsp sesame seeds toasted or fresh

Instructions

  • Add the gochujang, gochugaru, sugar, garlic, dashi powder and soy sauce into a large wok or saucepan. Pour water over and stir until evenly mixed, then bring to the boil (around 2-4 minutes).
    3 cups water, 1 ½ tsp dashi powder, 2 tbsp Korean hot pepper paste / gochujang, 1 tsp Korean hot pepper flakes / gochugaru, 1 tsp sugar, 1 tsp soy sauce, 1 garlic clove
  • Add the tteok rice cakes and bring back to the boil, then simmer for around 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until the rice cakes have started to soften.
    150 g Korean rice cakes (tteok)
  • Now add in the fish cakes, cabbage, spring onion / green onion, boiled eggs then finally the instant ramen noodles. Continue cooking for another 5 – 10 minutes until the sauce starts to thicken and the ramen noodles are cooked through.
    120 g ramen noodles, 150 g Korean fish cakes / eomuk, 2 spring onion, 2 boiled eggs, 1 cup cabbage
  • Just before serving, stir in the sesame oil. Transfer to serving plates and garnish with more spring onion / green onion and sesame seeds.
    1 spring onion / green onion some reserved as garnish, 1 tsp sesame oil, ½ tbsp sesame seeds

Video

YouTube video

Recipe Notes

  • Extra Flavour – Use the packet of flavouring from your noodles to tweak the taste of your dish. We love using the Korean Kimchi Ramyun flavouring, or you might like the popular and spicy Nongshim Shin Ramyun.
  • Storage – Store in the saucepan in the fridge ready to reheat the next day, or store in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer.
  • Make it Vegan – Omit the eggs or swap for veggies or vegan kimchi, swap fish cakes for firm tofu and use kombu dashi for the stock.
  • Add Dumplings – Such as Japanese style gyoza will make the dish go even further!
  • Add Cheese – Add a handful of grated cheese or a few slices of mozzarella for extra cheesy goodness.
  • Add Kimchi – The extra funky flavour of homemade kimchi really kicks up the flavour!
  • Make it a Rosé Rabokki! – Stir through half a cup of heavy cream just before you switch off the heat.

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts
Rabokki – Korean Ramen and Tteokbokki
Amount per Serving
Calories
759
% Daily Value*
Fat
 
20
g
31
%
Saturated Fat
 
7
g
44
%
Polyunsaturated Fat
 
4
g
Monounsaturated Fat
 
8
g
Cholesterol
 
224
mg
75
%
Sodium
 
1548
mg
67
%
Potassium
 
650
mg
19
%
Carbohydrates
 
110
g
37
%
Fiber
 
5
g
21
%
Sugar
 
7
g
8
%
Protein
 
34
g
68
%
Vitamin A
 
750
IU
15
%
Vitamin C
 
18
mg
22
%
Calcium
 
121
mg
12
%
Iron
 
5
mg
28
%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
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Rabokki - Korean Ramen and Tteokbokki
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