This dish is appealing to me because my grandmother and I used to make this for my whole family on Wednesday nights after soccer games. Our family's busy schedules always made us make easy meals that we could eat quickly by ourselves and then go get our homework done or watch T.V. These busy schedules were what made us happy and kept me and my brothers on track with school and our extracurricular activities, but I always loved slowing down and taking time to make a really delicious meal with my grandma. Wednesday nights were where me and her would bond the most and she could teach me all that I wanted to know. My grandma was a strict cook in the kitchen and did not want me getting hurt or burned so she was always very intricate in her directions, so I learned how to reciprocate this recipe very well. My grandmother taught me most of the Korean dishes that I know how to prepare and these were the valuable moments that I cherish with her in the kitchen. I loved that my whole family got to eat something that I made and I always felt very proud of myself when I was at the dinner table. I am part Korean and this dish makes me feel like I'm experiencing my family's culture because this is an authentic street food that has a lot of flavor and spice. I would love to transport you all through this dish to a Korean street market and let you taste the delicious savory rice cakes that are made with an assortment of meat and vegetables. 

Recipe:

• 1 pound of cylinder shaped rice cake, bought or homemade. (Use a little more if you’re not adding hard boiled eggs and fish cakes)
• 4 cups of water
• 7 large sized dried anchovies, with heads and intestines removed
• 6 x 8 inch dried kelp
• ⅓ cup hot pepper paste
• 1 tablespoon hot pepper flakes 
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 3 green onions, cut into 3 inch long pieces
• 2 hard boiled eggs, shelled (optional)
• ½ pound fish cakes(optional)

Directions:

1. Add the water, dried anchovies, and dried kelp to a shallow pot or pan.
2. Boil for 15 minutes over medium high heat without the lid.
3. Combine hot pepper paste, hot pepper flakes, and sugar in a small bowl. Remove the anchovies and kelp from the pot and add the rice cake, the mixture in the bowl, the green onion, and the optional fish cakes and hard boiled eggs. The stock will be about 2 ½ cups. 
4. Stir gently with a wooden spoon when it starts to boil. Keep stirring until the rice cake turns soft and the sauce thickens and looks shiny, which should take about 10 -15 minutes. If the rice cake is not soft enough, add more water and continue stirring until soften. When you use freshly made rice cake, it takes shorter time. If you use frozen rice cake, thaw it out and soak in cold water to soften it before cooking.
5. Remove from the heat and serve hot.

Citation :

https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/tteokbokki