SEONGNAM, Gyeonggi Province — Tteokbokki, a rice cake dish simmered in red-hot pepper paste, was at first notorious for its chewy texture that confused non-Koreans. Some disgruntled consumers complained how they were supposed to eat something with the consistency of a tire. That was the reality for what many Koreans consider a comfort food and one of the most representative street foods here. Tteokbokki thus raises a critical question: if it is so deeply rooted in Korean society and achieved transgenerational fame, how does it fare abroad? Kim Kwan-hoon, chief marketing officer at Dareun which operates tteokbokki franchise restaurant brand Dookki here and outside Korea, understood the challenge. His answer was to add grandeur to the food, camouflaging the problematic mouthfeel with culinary ideas and presenting a dining experience so that the complaint becomes an overstatement. “Tteokbokki has been my comfort food since I was a kid. But to foreigners, serving it as street food is a no-no. Nine out of 10 Westerners found rice cakes very difficult to eat, unsure when to stop chewing a
Tteokbokki simmers around world at Dookki restaurants
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