South Korea’s Rice Cake Exports Hit Record High, Fueled by Global Tteokbokki Craze | Be Korea-savvy

South Korea’s Rice Cake Exports Hit Record High, Fueled by Global Tteokbokki Craze


Tteokbokki is a popular Korean food made from soft rice cake, fish cake, and the sweet red chili sauce called gochujang. (image: Wikimedia)

Tteokbokki is a popular Korean food made from soft rice cake, fish cake, and the sweet red chili sauce called gochujang. (image: Wikimedia)

SEOUL, Jan. 29 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s exports of traditional rice cakes reached a fresh high in 2024, data showed Wednesday, driven by the growing popularity of Korean food around the globe.

Outbound shipments of rice cakes reached US$91.4 million in 2024, up 17.5 percent from a year earlier, according to data compiled by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

The latest figure marks a sharp increase from $34.3 million recorded in 2019.

By destination, exports to the United States amounted to $34 million, followed by the Netherlands with $8 million and Vietnam $6.7 million.

The ministry especially attributed the strong shipments of rice cakes to the growing popularity of “tteokbokki,” a spicy street food made with rice cakes.

Officials make traditional rice cakes in Seoul, in this file photo taken Oct. 10, 2024. (Seoul)

Officials make traditional rice cakes in Seoul, in this file photo taken Oct. 10, 2024. (Seoul)

“Amid the popularity of home meal replacements and Korean entertainment content, the demand for tteokbokki has also increased,” an agricultural ministry official said.

The Oxford English Dictionary has recently added tteokbokki to its list of entries, explaining it as “a Korean dish consisting of small, cylindrical rice cakes cooked in a spicy sauce made with gochujang, usually served as a snack (often as street food).”

(Yonhap)

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