Photo: Linda Xiao • Food Styling: Jessie YuChen
Hybridized Korean Italian fare first began spreading through the street food alleys and bunsikjeom (snack restaurants) of Korea in the early 2000s, in response to growing demand for Italian flavors. One of the most enduringly popular dishes from the canon of Korean Italian eats has been rosé tteokbokki. Traditionally, tteokbokki calls for simmering tteok, chewy Korean rice cakes, in a spicy-sweet gochujang sauce. But around 2006, after Korea loosened trade restrictions on Italian products, street food vendors—drawing inspiration from vodka sauce—began adding heavy cream to classic tteokbokki. They named the concoction “rosé” for its pinkish-orange hue. In food writer Jia H. Jung’s crab rosé tteokbokki recipe, she uses crème fraîche for its thick, creamy texture and subtle tang, and adds crab for a fancy flourish.
Look for tube- or oval-shaped tteok at your local Korean grocer, or online. Pair this one-pot meal with chilled soju or a bowl of makgeolli, unrefined rice wine.
Featured in “A Brief Guide to the Wide, Wonderful World of Korean Rice Cakes,” by Jia H. Jung.
Yield: 2 Time: 30 minutes 1½ lb. tteok (tube- or oval-shaped) 3 Tbsp. olive oil 1 medium white onion, finely chopped 10 garlic cloves, finely chopped 1 cup crème fraîche 2 Tbsp. gochujang One 6-oz. can lump crab meat ½ cup unsweetened coconut milk, from a can
