These Honey Butter Rice Cakes are sweet, savory, and deliciously chewy. I hate how expensive rice cakes are at Korean restaurants so I wanted to try making my own at home. Honey butter is also one of my favorite flavor combinations so this recipe was going to come out sooner than later.
Can't get enough of honey butter? Try my Honey Butter Chicken Wings next!
๐ฏ About This Recipe
Honey Butter Rice Cakes are a popular Korean appetizer. The rice cakes are pan-fried until crispy and then tossed with a sweet and savory honey butter sauce.
I had these for the first time not too long ago at a Korean restaurant in Vancouver. They were super tasty and the texture was amazing. Crispy on the outside and super chewy on the inside. Recently, I learned how to make them at home, and they taste even better than I remember.
The key to this recipe is to fry the rice cakes in oil instead of butter. I have found that butter tends to burn before the rice cakes get crispy. This is because butter has a lot of milk solids that separate when it's melted. Oil does not do this and will let us get a crispy crust.
๐ง Ingredients
- Korean Rice Cakes (tteok): If you are using fresh rice cakes, you can use them without any preparation. But If they are frozen or refrigerated, you will have to soak them in water for at least 20-30 minutes.
- Honey Butter Sauce: The sauce is made with honey, brown sugar, unsalted butter, and soy sauce. I find the flavor of honey very strong so I like to substitute some of it with brown sugar to mellow it out. I recently started using soy sauce instead of salt in honey butter sauces and it tastes much better.
- Oil
- Toasted sesame seeds (optional)
๐ช Instructions
For this recipe, I recommend using a nonstick pan for frying the rice cakes because they get very sticky.
STEP 1: If you're using frozen or refrigerated rice cakes, soak them in water for 20-30 minutes or as per package instructions, then dry them with a kitchen towel. If you're using fresh rice cakes, you can skip this step.
STEP 2: Heat one tablespoon of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the rice cakes and do not touch them. Fry them for two minutes until the bottom gets crispy and slightly golden. At this point, you can flip the rice cakes and try to get a little bit of color on each one. This should take another 3 minutes. The rice cakes will want to stick together but you can gently separate them with a spatula. Remove the rice cakes to a plate.
STEP 3: Reduce the heat to medium and add the butter, honey, brown sugar, and soy sauce. Cook and stir for about 1 minute until the sugar dissolves.
STEP 4: Return the rice cakes to the pan and toss to coat them evenly. Cook for another 1-2 minutes to reduce the sauce to a glaze. Serve immediately!
๐ฅก Air-fryer Option
Another option is to air-fry the rice cakes. They actually get crispier, and it's my preferred method, but not everyone has an air-fryer, so I've left it here as a variation.
Toss the rice cakes with a tablespoon of oil and air fry at 400ยฐF for 10 minutes, and make sure to flip them halfway in between.
๐ Recipe
Honey Butter Rice Cakes
Ingredients
- 1 pound Korean rice cakes
- 1 tablespoon neutral oil
- ยผ cup butter
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
Instructions
- If you're using frozen or refrigerated rice cakes, soak them in water for 20-30 minutes or as per package instructions, then dry them with a kitchen towel. If you're using fresh rice cakes, you can skip this step.
- Heat one tablespoon of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the rice cakes and do not touch them. Fry them for two minutes until the bottom gets crispy and slightly golden. At this point, you can flip the rice cakes and try to get a little bit of color on each one. This should take another 3 minutes. The rice cakes will want to stick together but you can gently separate them with a spatula. Remove the rice cakes to a plate.
- Reduce the heat to medium and add the butter, honey, brown sugar, and soy sauce. Cook and stir for about 1 minute until the sugar dissolves.
- Return the rice cakes to the pan and toss to coat them evenly. Cook for another 1-2 minutes to reduce the sauce to a glaze. Serve immediately!
Grace H.
This turned out so good. Thank you!
Grump
Youre welcome Grace!