Finally made it to Sindang Dukbokki Town

I've lived in Sindang for over a year now, and I haven't done the one and only thing Sindang is famous for. Dukbokki. Every time I get into a taxi and tell the driver I want to go home to Sindang, here is the inevitable comment about dukbokki. Just ten minutes from my house is the world famous (...) Dukbokki Town (떡볶이 다운).

Just what is dukbokki, you ask? Well, it's one of the most famous street food/ snack food in Korea. The main, most important ingredient is duk (떡). I found this great description of duk here:

In Korea, there are different types of duk, with ingredients, shapes and tastes varying from region to region. Specific cakes are served at specific occasions. Duk is made mainly from rice or glutinous rice that has been ground up, steamed, turned into dough and stuffed with a variety of sweet fillings before being transformed into dumplings or bread-like cakes. The taste and texture is similar, perhaps, to certain types of nonya kueh or mochi, the equally chewy Japanese version of glutinous rice cakes.

Duk comes in many forms, and it's common to see it made into deserts, or put into soup to add some more chunk. Dukbokki duk usually looks like small rolls of duk. Then there is the sauce. It's usually made in some sort of super spicy red sauce. On the street, you'll often see it with some odeng or even a boiled egg mixed in.

In dukbokki town, the dukbokki is not sold on the street, but in real restaurants, so the dukbokki tends to be a bit more complex than what you find on the street. We ordered two portions of the standard dukbokki dish, and we found two different kinds of noodles, mandu (dumplings), odeng, boiled eggs, cabbage, and, of course duk.. a smaller, probably homemade version of what you usually see on the street, all mixed together in that crazy spicy sauce.

Everything was brought over uncooked, and placed on a burner on the table to cook. 10 minutes later it was ready to eat!


mmmm.... 맛있겠다!