Tteok Sang 떡상

Ganjang Gejang is a type of jeotgal (or salted fermented seafood) in Korean cuisine. It is made by marinating fresh female crabs with roe in soy sauce and various spices. Whilst it is considered a delicacy in Korean cuisine, it is one of those dishes you either love or hate because it is difficult to eat can taste too raw, too salty or too spicy.

I am one of the former who love it for its sweet salty and savoury complex flavours but I have not had ganjang gejang outside of Korea because it is a time consuming dish to make and is difficult to export being raw seafood. Whilst it can be found in some Korean restaurants in Singapore, it is usually rather pricey (>$50).

We made the trip to Tteok Sang after reading about their ganjang gejang set which costs less than $20! Each set comes with 2 decent sized crabs, rice, seaweed and banchan. You can't eat this dish without getting your hands dirty so put on the plastic gloves provided and get cracking (literally).

There is no glam way of eating this dish - you break the crab at the joint and squeeze the gooey crab meat out or literally slurp it out of the shell. I personally found Tteok Sang's crabs a little too salty on its own so I recommend having it mixed with rice and some banchan in the shell and with the roe!

I personally find Tteok Sang's ganjang gejang a little too salty for my liking but mix it with rice and some banchan and it kinda balances out. That said, it serves as a good entry point for those who want to try this dish without breaking the bank.

We finished our meal at Tteok Sang with what else but kimbap!

Actually this was served by the good folks at Tteok Sang as what the Koreans would call 'service' dish (in short, complimentary of the restaurant). In Korea, the service dishes could sometimes be even better than what you ordered!

The kimbap here is actually quite good. It's packed full of ingredients and held its shape nicely. I can easily see myself getting a few on the go!

Tteok Sang also offers a wide range of mains such as ttukbaegi bulgogi, budaejjigae, gamjatang and sundubujjigae.

Their ttukbaegi bulgogi is a little on the sweet side but tasty with the sliced beef and glass noodles. The sliced beef was tender but the portions were kinda small considering the price.

Tteok Sang also serves a decent tonkatsu that is tender with a nice mix of fatty and lean meat. The batter is also thin and crispy.

Tteok Sang is a little hole in the wall eatery located on the ground floor of Aperia Mall that specialises in Korean street food.

They serve their food in green melamine plates similar to those used by Korean street food vendors during the 80s and 90s.

We started our meal off with Tteokbokki, a dish synonymous with Korean street food. Tteok Sang's rice cakes are chewy with a good bite. The sauce is sweet spicy and savoury but was a little too mild and light for my liking. I like it came with slices of eomuk (Korean fishcake) instead of having to order it on the side!