Creamy, spicy, sweet and savoury, this vegan rosé rabboki hits all the korean food craving spots.
Rabboki - A word mash up of the combination of Ramen and Tteokbokki. Ramen are quick cooking noodles typically served in a broth with meat and vegetables. Tteokbokki are a popular korean streetfood of chewy rice cakes in an addictively spicy red sauce. The word “tteok” means “rice cakes” and “bokki” means “stir fried.”
Spicy food has been scientifically proven to boost the production of feel good hormones such as serotonin - this aids in relieving stress. So it's no wonder tteokbokki was voted as Korea's top comfort food.
I have made tteokbokki quite often since becoming vegan as it's certainly my taste.
During covid lockdown I was unable to get my hands on gochugaru, so had to make a crude mix of sweet smoked paprika and cayenne pepper just to see me through. It works if you are in a pinch, but I highly recommend investing in gochugaru for that authentic Korean taste.
This rabboki recipe, however, was a gamechanger for me. I decided after watching so many beautiful and charming Korean vlogs that this was the dish for Boxing Day 2022. It would be perfect for my Korean cuisine loving sister who was coming to visit. This was the first time I'd been able to spend more than fleeting moments with her and be able to cook for her and her lovely boyfriend, as she moved 290 miles away during the lockdown years and we all know how quarantine was!(2020 you were insanity). I made this rosé rabokki topped with vegan spam, spring onions and sesame seeds. I served this with homemade korean bbq tofu stuffed onigiri, tempura, vegan kimchi and plenty of sides.
Ingredients
For the sauce
2-3 tbsp gochujang
1 tbsp gochugaru
1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp agave/vegan honey
3 cloves garlic, minced
For the Rabokki
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 brown onion, sliced
8 rashers of smoky vegan bacon, sliced
500ml water
250ml vegan cream
450g rice cakes
2 instant ramen noodle packs (don't use the seasoning packets)
Method
Mix all of the sauce ingredients together in a bowl
Heat the vegetable oil in a pan big enough to hold all your Rabokki ingredients (I often use my wok for this dish) and fry the onion and bacon until the onion is soften and the bacon is cooked.
Add your sauce and fry for a few minutes
Stir in the water and cream and bring the mixture to a boil.
Once boiling add the race cakes and ramen noodles to the pot, cook for 3-4 minutes so the noodles are not bloated and the rice cakes are soft and chewy.
Serve straight away, garnishing with sliced spring onions and roasted sesame seeds
Optional - You can exchange vegan bacon for mini vegan hot dogs. You can also add vegan cheese on top if you so desire - I like to do this on my rosé tteokbokki.
Remember this recipe serves 4, whilst you may think it is not enough... tteokbokki is surprisingly filling.
So that is my Rabboki recipe from Boxing Day 2022. It was a wonderful evening with good food, intense co-op gaming, strawberry soju, plenty of laughs and a few tears when the goodbyes had to regrettably come.
Maybe that's why I'm drawn to this recipe more so than my usual tteokbokki recipe - the memory of that precious evening spent with loved ones.
Blessed be,