Tteokbokki is a low calory popular Korean food rich in fiber. It’s a hot and spicy dish with a flavorful sauce made with anchovy—the price of Tteokbokki range from $1.9 to $2.2. Tteokbokki is usually served with a lot of ingredients. It contains vegetables, sauce, sausage, noodles, and dumplings. Sometimes we can see many customized versions of this dish, including stuffed cheese and other meat and potato fillings. The most basic form of sauce used includes gochujang and jjajang. The western touch of seasoning added to Tteokbokki is carbonara, a rich, cheesy, and creamy sauce. Many people have a doubt – is Tteokbokki halal?
What is Tteokbokki?
Tteokbokki is a very popular Korean food, and it’s made of rice cakes that are simmered. The rice cake used to make it is called tteokmyeon. Tteok means rice cake in Korean, and bokki means stir-fried food, which means stir-fried rice cake. The rice cake with a rich sauce and sesame gives a spicy, sweet, and savory taste. It’s a nostalgic food any Korean loves to eat. Some might prefer something else for its spice level. But it can always be personalized to one’s taste and preference.
How is Tteokbokki Made?
Tteokbokki is made using garaetteok, a type of rice used specifically for this. It is a cylindrical and long rice cake simmered to make Tteokbokki.
Let’s look into the ingredients and recipe of Tteokbokki.
First, we need the Korean rice cake, which is garae-tteok. And the other ingredients include anchovy stock, gochujang (Korean red pepper paste), Korean red pepper flakes or powder, fish cakes, eggs, cabbage, and carrot (optional), and boil it in a pot.
We start the recipe by making the Tteokbokki sauce. We combine soy sauce, sugar, red pepper paste, red pepper powder, and garlic in a bowl.
Next, add the anchovy stock pack into a deep pot with water and bring it to a boil. Take the bag off the pot and add the sweet and savory red pepper paste.
Once the Tteokbokki sauce is boiled, add the rice cakes, vegetables, and fish cakes into the sauce and simmer until it’s tender and soft. Once the sauce is thick, and the rice cake is smooth, add the other personalized ingredients you prefer. This normally includes noodles like ramen, hard-boiled eggs, dumplings, and creamy cheese.
Finally, add scallions, roasted sesame, and sesame oil as a finishing touch.
Is Tteokbokki Halal or Haram?
Tteokbokki is considered halal based on its ingredients, the most basic ingredients of a traditional Tteokbokki recipe. But some customized Tteokbokki recipes may include alcohol or pork and other nonhalal ingredients making it haram to eat.
Tteokbokki dishes include soy sauce, rice cakes, hot pepper paste, onion, garlic, water sugar, sesame, and fish cake. Eggs, beef broth, etc., are considered halal.
Suppose the Tteokbokki includes other meat like nonhalal beef, chicken or pork, and alcohol in the sauce; it’s not permissible to eat. We can find ready-made Tteokbokki in stores, of which ingredients can be uncertain. Make sure to check the ingredient list before buying them.
Is Tteokbokki Sauce Halal?
The Tteokbokki sauce is usually made of gochujang, Korean red pepper paste, soy sauce, gochutgaru, Korean chili flakes, sugar, garlic, and onion. None of these ingredients are considered haram Islamically. Halal refers to food or items that are Islamically permissible to eat. This sauce is traditionally made with anchovy stock or water.
The sauce does not use alcohol, which is another reason why Tteokbokki sauce is halal.
Is Alcohol in Tteokbokki Halal?
Not alcohol, it is a major haram factor in Islam. So, any food that contains alcohol is considered haram or prohibited. Usually, some store-bought rice cakes have alcohol as a preserving agent, making the rice cakes haram. So, the Tteokbokki made with rice cakes containing alcohol is considered haram to eat. Even some gochujang products have at least 1% ethanol making them haram. If the ingredient or the restaurant that makes Tteokbokki is halal certified, it’s safe for Muslims to consume.
Is Buldak Tteokbokki Halal?
Buldak refers to a very hot and spicy barbecued chick dish. It means fire chicken, and it’s that hot. The chicken is made saucy with the same ingredients as the Tteokbokki sauce. So buldak Tteokbokki is considered halal. Some places do not use halal-certified chicken; in that case, the buldak Tteokbokki is considered haram to eat; in addition, if the rice cake contains alcohol for preservation, then Tteokbokki is considered haram.
Which Korean Food is Halal?
There are many halal Korean food one can enjoy.
Bibimbap
A bowl of Korean mixed rice, with sauteed and seasoned vegetables and warm rice, gives a sweet, spicy, and savory flavor added from the gochujang and soy sauce. This can include any vegetables you prefer with a fried egg for a finishing touch. One can easily make it at home as it requires very minimum ingredients.
Bulgogi
The delicious smoky sliced meat marinated and grilled in thin slices is a must-try halal Korean dish. It’s a classic Korean recipe with delicious and smoky seasoned and flavored meat slices barbecued with caramel onions. This food is halal as long as the meat is halal.
Samgyetang
It’s a chicken soup with ginseng. For this, you need to take a whole chicken, stuff it with rice, ginseng, garlic, and Korean dates and let it simmer into a delectable broth. Let the chicken soak and cook into a tender and soft meal.
Dakdoritang
It’s a chicken stew that is spicy and flavorful. Here we boil large chunks of chicken with vegetables, gochujang, and gochutgaru. It’s super spicy and challenging to eat. Spice lovers can enjoy this dish.
Nakji-bokkeum
This is an octopus dish prepared with gochujang marination. It’s a red and spicy dish with roasted sesame. This usually is not a halal dish, but you can find many halal versions that do not include cooking wine.
Korean Fried Chicken
This is a double-fried chicken crunchy on the outside and juicy on the inside. This is more delicious with the sauce added. This sauce contains both savory and spicy flavors.
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