Do you sometimes crave for certain food after watching TV especially food or cooking programmes? I made chicken and waffles the other day because I had a huge craving for fried chicken and crispy waffles after watching an episode of Junk Food Flip on Food Network. And after watching a Korean drama on Channel U recently, I told the husband I wanted to eat tteokbokki (Korean spicy rice cakes), haha. So I went to buy a pack of fresh Korean rice cakes from the supermarket but thought I would cook them Chinese-style – like making hor fun (Chinese flat rice noodles) with rice cakes instead. I had some leftover curry leaves after using it to make salted egg chicken so I added them into the rice cakes which gave a somewhat aromatic punch. The curry leaves are of course not necessary in this recipe so you can leave them out. For the proteins, you can also use chicken, prawns or squids – whatever you prefer. However if it’s seafood that you’re using, remember to add them only at the end as they take just a few minutes to cook. There is no need to use any corn starch solution because the rice cakes would just thicken up the sauce while simmering. Enjoy!
Stir Fried Rice Cake Recipe
Ingredients (serves 4)
500g fresh Korean rice cakes, rinsed & drained
200g lean pork, thinly sliced
200g Chinese cabbage, finely sliced
200g bean sprouts
1 carrot, peeled & julienned
1 stalk spring onion, cut into 1″ sections
2 bird’s eye chillies, finely sliced
5 cloves garlic, peeled & finely chopped
handful of curry leaves (optional)
1 tbsp olive oil
500ml chicken stock
Seasonings:
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 1/2 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tsp dark soy sauce
2 tsp sugar
Instructions
1. Heat oil in pan and stir fry curry leaves (if using) and garlic till fragrant.
2. Add pork and fry till meat is no longer pink.
3. Add cabbage, bean sprouts, carrot, spring onions and chillies and briefly stir fry for a minute.
4. Add rice cakes, chicken stock and seasonings. Bring to boil and then reduce heat to simmer till most liquid is absorbed and rice cakes are tender.
you can get the authentic Chinese Rice Cakes in markets, supermarkets and medical halls.
You can use either Korean or Chinese rice cakes (both are the same) for this recipe but I recommend using fresh ones as you just need to rinse them briefly without the need to soak them till fully constituted. Cheers.