WEEKNIGHT · Easy · 40 min
Vegan Tteokbokki Recipe — Kelp-Shiitake Stock, No Fish Cake
By Tteokbokki Curator
How to make vegan tteokbokki: kelp and shiitake stock, gochujang sauce, cabbage and scallion. No anchovy, no eomuk, no egg. Check the cake bag for wheat.
TL;DR
Stock is kelp + dried shiitake + a pinch of mushroom powder. Same gochujang math as the classic pot. Skip fish cake; use fried tofu or more cabbage. Confirm the tteok ingredient line. Longer notes: /blog/vegan-tteokbokki/.
Ingredients
- 400 g garae-tteok (check label: rice first, no fish powder), soaked
- 1 piece kelp (10 cm), 3 dried shiitake, 2.5 cups water
- 3 Tbsp gochujang, 1 Tbsp gochugaru, 2 Tbsp soy (use wheat-free soy if you need it), 2 Tbsp rice syrup
- 2 cups cabbage, 2 scallions, 150 g firm tofu cubes (optional)
- Sesame oil, sesame seeds
Steps
- Simmer kelp and shiitake 12 minutes. Pull kelp before a hard boil. Strain. Taste: it should be quietly savory, not seaweed-slime.
- Whisk gochujang, gochugaru, soy, and syrup into the hot stock off a rolling boil.
- Add drained tteok. Simmer 8–10 minutes until the cakes puff and the sauce starts to cling.
- Add cabbage and tofu for the last 2–3 minutes. Scallion and sesame oil off heat.
- Serve with pickled radish or cucumber. Do not add a hidden spoon of fish sauce “for depth.”
Tips
- Some gochujang tubs include anchovy. Read the line if the pot must be vegan, not just vegetarian.
- Wheat-mix tteok is not gluten-free even when the sauce is — /blog/wheat-vs-rice-tteok-for-tteokbokki/.
What you'll need
Pantry searches on Amazon — we do not invent prices or pick a single “best” brand.
- Gochugaru (Korean chili flakes)Medium-coarse flakes for kimchi color; freeze the bulk bag.
- Gochujang (Korean chili paste)Fermented chili paste for tteokbokki, jjigae, and bibimbap.
- Garae-tteok (cylinder rice cakes)Cylinder rice cakes for tteokbokki and tteokguk. Check rice vs wheat on the label.
- Toasted sesame oilFinish japchae, gimbap, and tteokbokki off the heat.
- Dried anchovies and kelpThe stock behind tteokbokki and many stews. Gut large anchovies before simmering.
As an Amazon Associate we may earn from qualifying purchases. Links go to Amazon search results and use rel="sponsored nofollow". Affiliate disclosure.
More Korean food
Relevant pages on the two hub sites — recipes and a BBQ directory on bulgogi.ai, street rice cakes on tteokbokki.ai.
- bulgogi.ai — recipes & BBQ directory →Marinades, cuts, and a USA Korean BBQ map.
- Rice-cake storage (tteok.ai) →Fresh vs refrigerated vs frozen garae — before you set the sauce.