This is a side dish recipe for Spicy Korean Stir-Fried Fish Cakes. The recipe is an adaption from one of my friend’s “umma” (or mom in Korean)
Growing up Chinese American–big emphasis on the word American, my tastes were picky and consisted of American fast food and random Chinese home cooking. It wasn’t until I roomed next door to the Korean international students did I learn about the bright and bold flavors of Korean cuisine. It was on the third floor of that Freshman year dorm where I first tasted my first Korean stir-fried fish cake. Since then, I dove head first in learning more about Asian cuisines especially Korean food. Korean stir-fried dishes are a popular side dish, commonly found in banchan due to its bold and filling flavor.
What’s a banchan, you ask? Korean banchan refers to a variety of small side dishes commonly served alongside rice. If you’ve ever had Korean BBQ, you’re familiar with these amazing little bonus dishes. The tradition of banchan dates back centuries and has evolved over the years to incorporate various flavors. Banchan adds depth and complexity to main courses in Korean cooking by offering flavors varying from sour to sweet and salty. If you’re interested in learning more about Korean banchans, there’s a great Netflix docuseries called “A Nation of Banchan” that touches on these many delicious accompaniments to meals.
Fish cakes, known as “eomuk” in Korean, are a very popular Korean side dish. Fish cakes can be found in various forms across many Asian cuisines–Japan, China, Korea, Vietnam, etc. both in the home and restaurants. In this version of fish cakes, the combination of fish cake sheets, savory sauce, and a touch of spice makes it a bold accompaniment for meals from light broths to heavy meat dishes. These fish cakes can be used in a variety of different ways but as the title of this post suggests–we’re going to teach you how to make spicy Korean stir-fried rice cakes.
The Main Ingredient: Fish Cakes
As the name suggests, fish cakes are the star of this delicious side dish. You can find them in the freezer section (or sometimes fresh section) of your local Asian or Korean grocery store.
There are various types and shapes of fish cakes but we’ll want the fish cake sheets for this recipe. The frozen fish cakes come in either squares or rectangle halves and in thin sheets that are slightly translucent with a delicate, slightly sweet flavor. When thawed or fresh, they have a slight springy and fried tofu-like texture to them. The thin rectangles are most commonly used for this recipe. If you buy the squares, I recommend slicing them so they’re thin and every nook and cranny is covered with sauce. I recommend going with the frozen version if you’re a beginner. You’ll likely stand in front of the freezer section paralyzed with analysis paralysis the first time. If you don’t have a brand in mind..my go-to-move is to find the one that appears to be low in stock. The conversation in my brain goes to: If they’re running low, they must be popular, right?
Spicy Korean Stir-Fried Fish Cakes Side Dish Recipe
- 2 fish cake sheets (if you have 10×10 square sheets)
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 sweet or yellow onion, thinly sliced
- 1 red bell or green pepper, very thinly sliced
- 2 green chili peppers, sliced (adjust to your spice preference)
- 2 green onions, chopped
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil or neutral cooking oil for frying. You can use sesame oil but my personal preference is not to fry with it because the nutty flavor can sometimes burn and taste bitter.
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon sesame seeds
- 1/4 cup rice wine
- Salt and black pepper to taste
- For the Savory Sauce:
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon red pepper paste (gochujang) to make it spicy. Sub with soybean paste (doenjang) if you prefer it mild
- 1 tablespoon white sugar
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
Directions
- Preparing the Fish Cakes: Thaw the fish cake sheets according to the package instructions. I like to soften them quickly and remove excess oil from them so I’ll often bring a pot of water to boil, blanch them quickly to soften them up. Once thawed or softened, remove the excess water with a paper towel and slice the sheets into strips or squares of your choosing. I like to make them about 1/2 inch in width. You can make them thinner or into squares if you’d like.
- Prep the sauce: In a small bowl, combine the soy sauce, red pepper paste (or soybean paste for the non-spicy version), sugar, and minced garlic. Mix well and set aside to combine the flavors.
- Heat the Oil: In a large skillet or frying pan, heat your neutral oil over medium high heat.
- Stir Fry the Fish Cakes: Once the oil is hot, carefully add the fish cake strips and fry until they turn slightly golden and have a bit of crisp to them. It should be about 2 minutes on each side if your oil is medium.
- Remove Excess Oil: When the fish cakes are crispy and a little browned, remove from the hot oil to drain excess onto paper towels.
- Stir-Fry the Vegetables: In the same pan that you’ve added your oil, you’re going to stir fry your vegetables. You want a healthy amount of oil left in the pan for the vegetables to not stick. Add more oil as needed. Bring the temperature back to medium heat and drop in your minced garlic (careful not to burn it as it’ll turn bitter if you do), yellow or sweet onion, red bell pepper, green chili peppers, and green onions. Cook until the vegetables are tender. It should take about 4-5 minutes.
- Add the Fish Cakes: Return the fried fish cakes and drop in with the softened vegetables.
- Pour in the Savory Sauce: Pour the savory sauce over the fish cakes and vegetables. Mix everything well to coat the fish cakes with the flavorful sauce.
- Splash of Rice Wine: Turn up the heat and add a splash of rice wine. The rice wine hitting the heat will create a smokiness to enhance the flavor profile of the dish.
- Season with Salt and Pepper: Season the stir-fried fish cakes with salt and black pepper to taste.
- Garnish and Serve: Just before serving, drizzle the sesame oil over the dish, and sprinkle sesame seeds for a nutty crunch and bold flavor. Top with the green parts of the your green onions for visual flavor.
- Dig in! Make the fish cakes a main dish with the rice or as a complimentary side dish with a hot bowl of noodles. Get creative!
How to pair this side dish
So what is the right thing to pair this flavorful side dish with? The good news and the bad news is the possibilities are endless! Because this dish can be a mixture of sweet, salty and spicy (pending how you prefer to flavor it), it’s extremely flexible. You can adjust the level of spiciness or sweetness to accompany whatever you’re eating. When I’m eating it with my favorite ramen, I’ll make it more sweet to balance because my preferred ramen is already spicy. If you’re eating the fish cakes by itself or with rice, I like to amp up the spice levels by modifying the amount of red pepper paste.
Storing Your Fish Cake Side Dish
If you have any leftovers, be careful to store this in an airtight container to maintain its freshness. (I like the containers that have snapping lids.) These fish cakes have a longer shelf life than regular fish and an airtight container will keep it fresh for a few days.
This stir-fried dish is just one of the many delicious banchans Korean cuisine has to offer. It’s a great easy and fast dish that tastes authentic and seems more intermediate. The next time you’re looking to impress with your mad cooking skills or add a unique side dish to complement your favorite meals, consider this recipe for Spicy Korean Stir-Fried Fish Cakes.
