“Bomb Rice Cakes” are made only 7 servings a day! Pumpkin bowls are stuffed with cheese and spicy stir-fried rice cakes.

▲ Bomb Rice Cake is a classic dish at Taebak Korean Specialty Cuisine. (Photo / Provided by Taebak Korean Specialty Cuisine)

Reported by Hua Shaofu / Taipei

Located in the Dong District, Taebak Korean Specialty Cuisine offers authentically flavored dishes, thanks to the fact that all the sauces used in the restaurant are imported directly from South Korea. Interestingly, the owner’s wife is a Korean beauty, and the boss, Chen Fengkai, left his high-paying job as an engineer and went to Korea to learn cooking just to win her heart. Below is an introduction to one of the restaurant’s most tempting dishes — “Bomb Rice Cakes.”

Chen Fengkai explained that this bomb rice cake is made by first using chestnuts and pumpkin to reduce the spiciness — the sweetness helps tone down the heat. Then, cheese is sprinkled on top. “When I was in Korea before, I saw people cooking with pumpkins, and I had a sudden idea to put spicy stir-fried rice cakes inside, because the dishes I saw also involved hollowing out pumpkins.”

▲ Cut open the bomb rice cake, and you’ll find cheese and spicy stir-fried rice cakes inside. (Photo / Provided by Taebak Korean Specialty Cuisine)

This dish is considered the restaurant’s signature offering. “Only we make this kind of dish!” Chen Fengkai said. No one would have thought that spicy sauce and cheese could partially mask the pumpkin flavor, making the taste more harmonious and rich. “We brush the skin of the pumpkin, scoop out the insides, and steam it in the morning, which takes a lot of time — we only make 6 or 7 servings a day.” He noted that the key to the success of this dish lies in limiting quantity to maintain quality.

Taebak Korean Specialty Cuisine

Address: No. 9, Lane 160, Yanji Street, Da’an District, Taipei City
Phone: 02 2775 2063
Business Hours: Monday to Friday 11:30–14:00, 17:30–22:00