Hello listeners thank you for tuning in. Today, I want to introduce you to another nostalgic Korean favorite food: tteokgalbi.

The name is often confusing for people because the word tteok means rice cake and galbi means rib meat. Some people think it is rice cake made with meat. That’s partly right, but that’s not the whole story.

Tteokgalbi is minced short rib that is seasoned with a sesame, fruit, and soy sauce marinade. Koreans prefer to use rib meat for it is the most flavorful part and because it is chopped superfine. Usually, they use the back of the knife first and then the blade part to get a puree consistency. They do this because the minced meat better takes in the flavor of the marinade and because it is easier to shape the meat. Koreans like to shape the meat to resemble a rice cake.

In olden times rice cake was considered a delicacy so to have beef rib meat laboriously prepared and then cooked over a charcoal flame was considered an epicurean delight. This was a dish that was prepared for royalty and the rich. What I love most about this dish is that the sugars in the marinade will caramelize in the smoky charcoal, creating a sophisticated flavor.

History says this dish originated from the southwestern region of Jeollabukdo in the Damyang providence but there are variations around all of Korea. The Damyang area of Songjeong market used to be a famous meat market area and slaughterhouse. Here they developed a tteokgalbi using pork and beef to create a tender and complexly flavored tteokgalbi. The pork added additional fat and flavor and the region’s balanced sauce hid the pork flavor. Also, the addition of pork made the dish less expensive so even common people could come to enjoy the dish. Here the shape is more like diamond rice cakes called injeolmi tteok. The recipes here vary from place to place. Some use kelp, pear, different soy sauces, various sesame oils, roasted bean powders, medicinal herbs and more.

Nowadays in Gwangju by the Songjeong market, there is a whole street dedicated to tteokgalbi. They all claim to be the original and some say that they started from 1976. I’m not sure which one is the original, but I do know they are all quite good. My favorite one there have been on a famous television show and they have the best, the best! bibimbap that I have had in Korea. Here they mix in their charcoal flavored tteokgalbi into rice that is already mixed with red chili paste, sesame oil and other ingredients. Then they top this with some veggies and an egg yolk. It is a delicious rice dish that goes great with heaps of freshly grilled tteokgalbi.

You should head to Songjeong’s tteokgalbi street just so you can have this combination.