Gnocchi Goes from Italy to Korea at Himitsu

Chef Kevin Tien of Washington, D.C.’s Himitsu has always been infatuated with pasta. Recognizing that it will take him years to become a master pasta maker, he came up with a clever workaround for one dish: he uses rice cakes instead of gnocchi. “To get them really pillowy, we soak them overnight in water,” he says. “That gives them a very soft texture.”

He...