Making sweet and salty Korean homemade tteokgalbi

Tteokgalbi is a Korean meat dish in which the sweet and salty taste of galbi seasoning is coated with minced meat and grilled gently. Although it has “tteok” in the name, it is actually known as a food that originated from the meaning of minced rib meat and making it like rice cake. Nowadays, it is easy to make it at home by mixing minced beef and pork, and it is easy to explain to foreigners as “Korean grilled meat patties.”

If you search for tteokgalbi in 10,000 recipes, you will see various versions such as handmade tteokgalbi, beef tteokgalbi, pork tteokgalbi, and king songgi tteokgalbi. What is important in common is to knead the meat dough sufficiently so that it holds its shape well, and to cook it slowly over medium-low heat to avoid burning the soy sauce seasoning. In this article, we have summarized the basic homemade tteokgalbi that is easy to make at home.

Tteokgalbi Ingredients

For 3 to 4 servings, prepare 300g minced beef, 200g minced pork, 1/2 minced onion, 3 tablespoons chopped green onion, 1 tablespoon minced garlic, 3 tablespoons soy sauce, 1 tablespoon sugar, 3 tablespoons pear juice or pear puree, 1 tablespoon sesame oil, a little pepper, and sesame seeds. Mixing in a little pork makes the texture soft and moist.

Prepare the seasoning sauce separately by mixing 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 2 tablespoons water, 1 tablespoon oligosaccharide, and a little sesame oil. Applying this sauce in the middle of grilling makes the surface shiny and brings out the unique sweet flavor of tteokgalbi. Even children can make it in a shape they like by adding tteokbokki rice cake or king oyster mushrooms.

making meat dough

Add minced meat, onion, green onion, garlic, soy sauce, sugar, pear juice, sesame oil, and pepper to a large bowl and mix by kneading in one direction. If you simply mix it, it may crack when baking, so it is recommended to knead it for 3 to 5 minutes until it becomes sticky. Pear juice tenderizes the meat and adds a subtle sweetness.

Shape the dough into an oval shape the size of your palm. If you make it too thick, the outside may burn and the inside may be undercooked, so a thickness of about 1.5cm is appropriate. Gently pressing the center will help reduce the center from puffing up when baking. It will hold its shape better if you let it rest in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes rather than baking it right away.

Baking order

Heat a pan over medium heat, add a little oil and place the tteokgalbi on it. If you cook over high heat from the beginning, the soy sauce seasoning will burn easily, so controlling the heat is important. When one side turns brown, carefully flip over, cover, and cook until cooked through. Depending on the thickness, 8 to 10 minutes is enough.

When the meat is almost cooked, spread a thin layer of the prepared sauce on both sides and grill once more. The color will darken quickly after applying the sauce, so do not leave it on for long and cook it just until it becomes shiny. Sprinkling sesame seeds and chopped green onions at the end improves the flavor and color. If you are worried about whether it is cooked all the way through, you can check by slightly cutting off the thickest part.

Tips for eating deliciously

Tteokgalbi is good as a side dish for rice, or it goes well with lettuce and rice as a wrap. Since the liver is sweet and salty, adding refreshing side dishes such as kimchi, pickled radish, or seasoned cucumber will reduce the greasiness. If you make it in a small size, it can be used as a lunch box side dish or party food.

Leftover tteokgalbi can be refrigerated and reheated over low heat or briefly reheated in the microwave. However, if you heat it for too long, the juice may run out, so to keep it moist, it is best to add a spoonful of water and cover it with a lid. Thanks to its soft texture and familiar sweet and salty seasoning, Tteokgalbi is a great dish to recommend to foreigners who are new to Korean meat dishes.