Tteokbokki as Pasta

At Budonoki, a modern izakaya in Los Angeles, Korean rice cakes are treated explicitly like pasta in a dish dubbed Budo-gnocchi. Long cylindrical tteok are steamed to soften, then seared to create a crisp exterior before being tossed with mushrooms, a dashi-butter pan sauce and Parmigiano-Reggiano. The result delivers the same comforting base diners expect from gnocchi, but with a distinctly bouncy chew.

The dish resonated so strongly that it transitioned from a one-off experiment into a permanent menu item, later evolving with seasonal ingredients like corn and tomatoes or finishing touches such as shaved black winter truffle. Its success underscores a larger point: Tteok’s texture allows it to function as a versatile base, capable of anchoring rich, cheese-forward and umami-driven dishes without losing its identity.