Dduk Bok-kee, Korean Beef Sauté with Rice Cake

28. December 2007 Beef, Pasta + Noodles + Rice 0

Koreans usher in the new year eating dduk, or what we non-Koreans refer to as rice cakes. Rice flour is used to make dduk and the end product is dense and sticky, like the Japanese mochi and the Filipino kalamay. I can only assume that Koreans eat dduk during the new year for the same reason Filipinos and Chinese eat noodles: for long lives, and well, “many children”.

There are different kinds of dduk eaten as a snack or as dessert, but what I like are the cylindrical ones used in this hearty recipe. If I encounter this in a Korean restaurant, it’s usually sans meat, but having perfected my Korean bibimbap earlier this year, I thought that adding beef in it won’t hurt. Instead of a soup, though, I made a sauté with the beef lightly seared. Serve this with Korean store-bought banchan, or side dishes.

Ingredients:
a handful of Korean dduk
1 small red bell pepper, julienned
1 yellow squash, chopped
1 bunch of scallions, chopped in 1/2-inch pieces
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsps kochujang, or Korean red pepper paste
1 tbsp peanut oil

For the beef marinade:
2 slices of lean beef
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tsp mirin, or rice wine
1 clove of garlic, minced

1. In a small bowl, marinate beef while you prepare the dduk.
2. In a small pot of boiling water, cook the dduk for 5 to 7 minutes. They’re done when a fork easily pricks them. Remove from the water using a slotted spoon. Set aside.
3. Heat peanut oil in a sauté pan. Sauté scallions until soft. Add the red bell pepper and the squash and cook until tender. Move the vegetables to the side to make room for the beef. Add the beef and sear for 2 minutes per side. Remove the beef using tongs onto a chopping board.
4. Remove the pan from the heat while you slice the seared beef against the grain. Turn on the heat again and add the beef back, the dduk and the remaining ingredients. Toss until completely combined. Add more kochujang paste if you want your dduk bok-kee spicier.

Related post/s:
Korean bibimbap recipe
Kochujang sauce and sashimi
Han Ah Reum has all the Korean ingredients you need