Roll Tteok In Cinnamon Sugar For A Quick And Delicious Dessert

A trending dessert from Asia has been blowing up in hotpot joints like Haidilao: Sweet fried rice cakes akin to rice cake or mochi churros. One taste leaves you longing to recreate this delicious dessert from home. Instead of making rice cakes from scratch, here's a fun and creative food hack: use cylindrical-shaped tteok (or 떡), the gluten-free Korean rice cakes known for their chewy, QQ (springy) texture. While tteok's usual pairings are savory, like kimchi or gochujang-based sauces and fish cakes, the spin here is to make them into a sweet dessert.

To begin, soften ready-to-cook tteok as per the packaging instructions. This may entail soaking them in water or parboiling them. Strain and let them dry for a bit, then pan fry the tteok in butter or neutral oil until crispy and cooked through. Of course, you could also deep fry the tteok. The magic transformation happens when you roll these fried rice cakes in a cinnamon and sugar mixture reminiscent of churro flavors. The result is a sugary, cinnamony treat with a crispy exterior and a soft, mochi-chewy interior. As with churros, you can enjoy these "tteok churros," while still hot, drizzled with or dipped in chocolate or caramel sauce.

This fun food hack is as versatile as it is ingenious. Instead of the aforementioned cinnamon sugar coating, why not experiment with flavors like matcha, cocoa powder, or black sesame powder? Matcha will impart leafy, earthy, and subtle umami notes, while cocoa powder will be perfect for chocolate lovers, and fans of nutty desserts will love black sesame.

Pairing the fried tteok with different dipping sauces can elevate this fun dessert. Imagine dipping these crispy bites into a luscious brown sugar syrup, adding sweet boba for a playful texture, or drizzling them with condensed milk for a creamy finish. Or use these fried tteok churros as a complement to other desserts. They can be chopped and sprinkled over ice cream, added as a crunchy element in creamy yogurts, or even incorporated into puddings for their textures and flavors. You can also layer the tteok churros in sundaes and parfaits, offering a delightful crunch between the layers of creamy and fruity elements.

So, the next time you're in an Asian supermarket like H-Mart, pick up a bag of tteok. They're usually found in the frozen and noodle aisles. Turning tteok into fried "mochi-like" churros is a delightful way to explore multiple cultures and cuisines, all wrapped up in one delicious and innovative food hack.