Tag: tteokbokki

Posted on

What is tteokbokki?

pack of tteokbokki

Having seen tteokbokki as part of the M&S stir fry deal, I did wonder what they were having never seen (or heard of) them before.

Looking online I saw that tteokbokki (떡볶이) are a popular Korean dish made primarily from soft, chewy, cylindrical rice cakes (called garae-tteok or tteokbokki-tteok) simmered in a rich, flavourful sauce. It’s one of Korea’s most beloved street foods, known for its addictive sweet, savoury, and often spicy taste.

I was intrigued. So the next time I bought the stir fry deal I got the tteokbokki as that part of the deal.

I cooked them separately before adding them to the veg and protein. They were a nice change from rice or noodles, somewhat chewy in texture, but I liked them.

Posted on

yasai yaki soba with mushroom

We were in London for a show, and afterwards we headed to the Covent Garden branch of Wagamama.

That area of London is quite busy on a Saturday evening, but the advantage of Wagamama is that you can’t book. We arrived and were able to go straight in. When we left there was a queue for the place.

There was a wide range of choices on the menu, I had initially considered a Korean hotpot with tteokbokki, however it was quite a hot day and I wasn’t sure if I wanted a hot pot dish, also for me that ruled out a ramen as well. I did like the idea of a salad, but in the end I went with the yasai yaki soba with mushroom.

This was soba noodles cooked with mushrooms, egg, peppers, beansprouts and white and spring onion. topped with crispy fried onions, pickled ginger and sesame seeds. It was really good. I love the combination of flavours and textures. It is probably my go to dish when visiting Wagamama. This dish had a good portion of mushrooms and I found it delicious.

Though service was okay, we did have a long delay on the gluten-free dish for our table. When it did arrive it was very tasty I was told. I really don’t mind that Wagamama bring out the dishes when they’re ready, but we weren’t really expecting the difference to be nearly thirty minutes! As a result I had finished my food (as it was the first to arrive) by the time the gluten-free dish arrived on the table. That was disappointing.