How Ji Hye Kim Fell in Love with (and Schemed to Eat) Tteokbokki

Tteokbokki was what all the kids wanted. As a second-grader at Gongduk Elementary School in Seoul, I was not an exception to that rule. Street vendors regularly lined up outside, and my favorite vendor sat in the center behind her stall, a reigning queen. I’d stand there and watch as she handed over plates of tteokbokki to kids after school. Just five sticks of rice cakes on a plate, braised slowly in anchovy stock and gochujang...