Tteokbokki is undoubtedly an iconic street food of Korea, regarded as a convenient and quick snack. But little do most people know about the sinuous journey it went on to become the tteokbokki we know today. Even the name was different—originally, it was known as byeongja (餅炙) from the 16th to 20th centuries.
Having been invented before the arrival of red chili peppers (go-chu), byeongja was made of rice and was typically served with seafood like abalone and sea cucumber, along with a variety of vegetables, making it a luxury dish that few could afford. In fact, records describing it as a popular snack in the royal court suggest that the creation of byeongja can be attributed to them. King Yeong-Jo of the Joseon Dynasty, for instance, enjoyed it as an afterschool snack prepared by his mother. During that time, it gained the name gungjung-tteok-bokki or "royal court tteok-bokki."
As aforementioned, byeongja was initially made from rice and fried in oil. Unlike today, it lacked the carmine spiciness we know it by today and instead boasted a caramel shade imbued by the soy sauce it was seasoned with, along with a variety of other spices. Books such as the Siuijeonseo (시의전서) and the Jusigsiui (주식시의) record early byeongja recipes, and it can be seen that they evolved to expand beyond crustaceans, including other types of meats as well.
Byeongja would become more popular and widely available during the Japanese occupation of Korea; however, it would still remain a largely limited luxury food. In addition to its role in the royal court, byeongja was consumed on special days where families paid their respects to relatives who had passed on. However, these family gatherings were not solemn, depressing occasions—rather, they were days to celebrate and rejoice in the spirit of family. Normal civilians outside of the royal court began to gain access to it, and byeongja was often eaten on holidays like the Lunar New Year. It was especially popular with children, gradually becoming popularized as a birthday food.
It was after the Korean War ended in 1953, resulting in a rice and food shortage, that tteokbokki shifted to become what we know it as today. An old grandmother by the name of Ma Bok-Rim had sought to remedy the difficulties regarding food availability by opening an affordable shop selling tteokbokki in the 1950s. Ma Bok-Rim had been visiting a Chinese restaurant with her family when she accidentally dropped the tteok into the jajangmyeon, or black bean noodles. Tasting the rice cakes, she was shocked by the delectable taste. She then experimented with gochujang and found that not only did it create a flavorful dish, but it was also cheaper. Thus, gochujang tteokbokki was born. However, despite what some may expect, this new variant of tteokbokki did not become popular instantaneously.
In addition to the popularization of tteokbokki, a social movement rose to promote the use of flour as a means to cope with the lack of rice in the 1950s, culminating in the Rice Savings Movement during the 1970s. It was during this reformation that tteokbokki began incorporating flour. It was in this era that tteokbokki became a full-fledged trend, especially as the Korean economy began to center itself around Seoul. With the commercialization of tteokbokki through the aid of tteokbokki-selling shops, meal kits became popular as well, especially during the IMF period when Korea’s economy suffered.
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