Dalgona

''Dalgona'' () or ''ppopgi'' () is a Korean candy made with melted sugar and baking soda. It was a popular street snack in the 1970s and 1980s, and is still eaten as a retro food. When a pinch of baking soda is mixed into melted sugar, the thermal decomposition of the baking soda releases carbon dioxide, which makes the liquidized sugar puff up, and it becomes a light and crunchy candy once cooled and hardened. Typically, the creamy beige liquid is poured on a flat surface, pressed flat, and stamped with a patterned mold. Eaters try to trim their way around the outline or picture on the snack without breaking the picture. Traditionally, if this trimming is completed without breaking the candy, the consumer receives another free ''dalgona''.

Modern cafes in Korea serve novel dalgona coffee beverages where ''dalgona''-flavoured coffee cream is heaped on top of iced tea or coffee, as well as pastries such as scones. Some cafes also used dalgona to launch desserts such as bingsu and souffle.

Dalgona appeared in an episode of the Netflix series ''Squid Game'', with a deadly version of the dalgona challenge being the second game played in the series. The success of the series led to a revival of the candy's popularity in South Korea and around the world, and sales doubled for street vendors. People have also taken to social media to make their own candy at home as a challenge.

Name

''Dalgona'' was originally a term specific for expensive candies that use glucose which did not use a mold, while ''ppopgi'' was originally candies that use sugar and thus could be easily molded into shapes such as stars and circles. Due to problems with ''dalgona'' regarding its susceptibility to mould, the word ''dalgona'' began to refer to the same food as ppopgi. In Gyeonggi Province, including Seoul and Incheon, it was mainly called dalgona and ppopgi, but the names vary from region to region.

* ''ttigi'' (): Representatively, it was used in Daejeon, and other regions were used in most of Chungcheong Province except Cheongju and most of Jeolla Province except Gwangju. ''Ttigi'' reflects the characteristics of Chungcheong and Jeolla dialects in which the vowel ''e(ㅔ)'' is converted into ''i(ㅣ)'', and when changed to a standard language, it becomes ''ttegi(떼기)''.
* ''gukja'' (): It was mainly used in Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province, and it is said to have been called a ''gukja (ladle)'' because it was made and eaten in a ladle. In addition, it was also called ''pajjakkung'' (), but it is not as strong as a ''gukja''.
* ''jjokja'' (): It was mainly used in the South Gyeongsang Province, and it is presumed to have originated from the dialect of the ladle, but it is not accurate.
* ''orittegi'' / ''orittigi'' (/): It was mainly used in Masan and is said to have originated from the dialect of "cutting (오려, oreo) and pulling (떼기, ttegi)".
* ''ttong-gwaja'' (): In Busan, it is said that it was also called ttong-gwaja in addition to ''jjokja''. As the name suggests, it was called ''ttong-gwaja'' (poop cookie) because it looked like a poop.
* ''ttegi'' (): It is said that in Jeju Island, like Chungcheong and Jeolla, it was called ''ttegi'' by borrowing the standard language itself without transforming it into ''ttigi'', a dialect form. Exceptionally, it is said that it was also called ''tikka'' () in some areas of Seogwipo.

From the 1970-80s to the early 2000s, when the popularity of ''ppopgi'' was in full swing, the media had little influence, so the names were different for each region. However, generations later, the spread of smartphones and the influence of the media have increased, and the influence of the Seoul/Gyeonggi region, which is naturally exposed to the media, has increased. Since then, these regional names have lost their power, and most middle and high school students now simply call them dalgona.

Gallery

File:Making dalgona.jpg, Making ''dalgona'' on '' yeontan'' (coal briquettes)
Dalgona 1.jpg, Dalgona
Dalgona 2.jpg, A child trying to poke a shape out of dalgona
File:Cha Dalgona Tea Beverage.png, alt=dagona tea and coffee, ''Dalgona''-flavoured coffee cream on iced tea at a modern Seoul cafe
Dalgona popcorn.jpg, Dalgona-flavored popcorn

See also

* Dalgona coffee
* Honeycomb toffee
* Katanuki

References

Candy
South Korean confectionery
2020s fads and trends
{{Korea-cuisine-stub