Rabokki (Tteokbokki with Ramen Noodles)

Soak the rice cakes in cold water for 10 minutes. Cut the fish cake, cabbage, and green onion into bite-size pieces.

~10 min

Why: Even hard refrigerated or frozen rice cakes cook through soft and chewy after a soak.

Add 2.5 cups of water and all the sauce ingredients to a pan, stir to dissolve, and bring to a boil.

~3 min

Once boiling, add the rice cakes, fish cake, and cabbage. Simmer over medium heat 7 minutes, stirring, until the sauce thickens slightly.

~7 min

Why: The starch from the rice cakes has to melt into the broth to get that snack-bar thickness — stir like you are scraping the bottom.

Watch out: Add the noodles before the broth reduces too far — they soak up a lot of liquid.

Add the ramen noodles and cook 3 minutes, turning them over as they soften. Kill the heat while the noodles are still slightly underdone.

~3 min

Watch out: Fully cooked noodles turn mushy on the plate — stopping at 90% is the key.

Top with the boiled eggs and sliced green onion, and serve straight from the pan.

~2 min