Sotteok sotteok is a popular Korean street food that has sausages and rice cakes on a skewer. They are grilled until crispy and brushed with a sticky, sweet & spicy sauce that is finger licking good.

The name “sotteok sotteok” is a blend of the words sausage + tteok. Koreans gave it the cute name “sotteok sotteok” because of the alternating pattern of skewering them.

This is very similar to tteokkochi (sweet & spicy rice cake skewers), but adds sausage. I read that it was created by a Korean celebrity that featured it on her show, then it became a popular Korean street food. I don’t remember who the celebrity was, but she really created something special!

I had this in Korea for the first time not too long ago. I LOVE grilled tteok (rice cakes). The texture is amazing- a crispy crunch on the outside and so soft and chewy on the inside. I could eat grilled tteok every day! I especially love to order it with gopchang (grilled intestines) when I have a chance to eat it.

Ingredients

• Rice cake- you will need cylinder-shaped rice cake for this (garae-tteok). If using fresh tteok, you can just skewer them without any preparation. If they’re frozen or refrigerated, you will need to blanch them in boiling water for a little while to soften them before skewering. You can find these at any Asian supermarket.
• Korean sausage- these are very similar to Vienna sausage, but much better! I always get the spicy pork sausage flavor. You can use the mild one if you prefer. See the picture below for the brand I use. These are available at Hmart and most other Korean supermarkets.
• Sweet & spicy sauce- if you’re familiar with tteokkochi (sweet & spicy rice cake skewers), this is the same sauce. It has gochujang, gochugaru, ketchup, sweetening syrup, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, and garlic. I also like to add a bit of my favorite chili oil but this is optional. My favorite chili oil is Zindrew Chili.
• Garnish- crushed peanuts and chopped green onion. You can also you sesame seeds instead of peanuts if you prefer.
• Oil– just a little oil to brush over the rice cakes and sausages for grilling.

Tools needed/where to buy

Skewers

You’ll need good quality 8 inch skewers. At first I soaked them in water for 30 minutes, but I found that this made them really weak and they couldn’t hold the weight of the sausage and rice cakes without snapping. The skewers will char whether you soak them or not, so I don’t think it’s necessary to soak them, especially if you’re making them on a fry pan.

You shouldn’t have any trouble finding these anywhere but I purchased a pack of 100 skewers from Amazon for $5 here.

Grill

If you don’t own a grill, you can definitely make this on a fry pan instead. However, I HIGHLY recommend grilling them for that extra layer of smoky goodness you get from grilling. You can buy the exact same one I have for under $15 shipped from Amazon.

I love this grill! It’s so inexpensive, easy to use/clean, and so convenient for camping, picnics, or grilling at home. I use charcoal briquettes that are instantly ignitable and don’t require lighter fluid. They are easy to use and inexpensive as well.

Instructions for pan-frying

If you’re not using a grill, you can pan-fry these on the stove top for similar results. Add some oil to a pan on medium heat, then pan fry both sides of the skewers for about 1 minute each. You don’t have to brush the skewers with oil if you choose this method.

After they are crispy & charred to your liking, remove from the pan and brush the sauce all over. Garnish with peanuts and green onions and you’re done!