KoreaToday How to Make Royal Court Topokki?

By Kim Sue-young

Staff Reporter

Royal court topokki, or ``gungjung topokki'' in Korean, spiced with soy sauce, is considered the origin of the current red, hot one. It does not require red pepper paste, so its sweet, salty taste is seductive enough to appeal Westerners. Organizers of the Seoul Topokki Festival 2009 offer tips on how to make the topokki.

1.

Parboil 250 grams of rice cake with a pinch of salt.

2.

Wash the rice cake with cold water and mix with sesame oil.

3.

Soak two pieces of dried pyogo mushroom in water, squeeze, and slice into long, thin strips.

4.

Spice the mushroom and 50 grams of beef with four tablespoons of soy sauce, one tablespoon of sugar, two tablespoon of alcohol, one tablespoon of sesame oil and a pinch of black pepper.

5.

Oil a pan and stir-fry a sliced quarter onion, beef, mushrooms, rice cake and 30 grams of sliced carrot in that order.

6.

According to individual taste, add more salt or chopped garlic.

7.

Serve garnished with sliced fried egg when hot.

Secret Recipe of Classic Topokki