Spicy Korean Rice Cakes with Noodles (Rabokki)

I seem to be in a Korean type of mood lately, with my Kim Chee Cucumbers, Kim Chee Soba and now a famous Korean street food dish, Rabokki!  I first tried this dish when my friend made this at a sleep over. Note:  Sleepovers post college unless they are in hotel rooms, seem to be a BAD idea.  Even though they sound fun when you are planning it, I think with age we all like comforts.    Our sleep over niter has never been attempted again! 

This dish is total comfort food and major carb heaven!  It combines Korean rice cakes (mochi like discs) with ramen, and marinated beef in a spicy sauce. 

Rabokki
as taught to me by my Korean friends

2 cups sliced rice cake
1 package instant noodles
1/2 onion, sliced
1 1/2 cups water (approximate)
1/2 lb. thinly sliced beef
1 Tbsp. Olive Oil
1 cup mushrooms, sliced

Sauce
2-3 Tbsp. Kochijang
1 tsp. Red chili flake
1 tsp. garlic, minced
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. sesame seed oil
2 Tbsp. soy sauce

green onions
sesame seeds

Note: You can get thinly sliced cuts of beef at any Asian market.  I’ve seen this dish done with sea food, pork, fish cake and tofu as well. 

1.  Soak rice cakes in cool water for 15 minutes.  Heat pan on medium high heat and add olive oil to pan.  Add in onions, beef and mushrooms and cook until onions start to slightly soften.  *Don’t worry if your beef is not all the way through at this point, we do this mostly to cook the onions.*

2. Combine the sauce ingredients in a bowl and mix well.  Drain the rice cakes and add to pan, along with sauce and water.  Mix ingredients until everything is well coated. 

3.  At this point I like to cook the instant noodles (ramen) in the microwave.  You can add the noodles to the pan at this point and allow it to cook in the sauce as well. *I just prefer to do it in the micro*  Add the noodles to the pan once the rice cakes are tender and you can poke through them with a fork.

4.  Mix well and allow the sauce to thicken up and reduce for a couple of minutes.  Garnish with green onion and sesame seeds and serve!