Dalgona in Squid Game
What happens
Players must carve a stamped shape — circle, triangle, star, or the dreaded umbrella — out of a brittle disc of honeycomb sugar candy without breaking it. The game turned a 1970s–80s Korean schoolyard treat into a global phenomenon overnight: street vendors in Seoul saw queues return, and the licked-needle technique became a worldwide meme.
The food: Dalgona (달고나)
Dalgona (달고나) is melted sugar puffed with a pinch of baking soda, pressed flat and stamped with a shape. Vendors sold it outside schools for decades; if you carved the shape out cleanly, you won a free one — exactly the rule the show weaponized.
Make it at home
- Melt 2 tablespoons of sugar in a ladle or small pan over low heat, stirring until fully liquid and amber.
- Take off the heat, add a small pinch of baking soda and stir fast — it will puff and lighten.
- Pour onto parchment, press flat with something heavy, and stamp a cookie cutter shape while warm.
- Let it cool 2 minutes, then try to carve the shape out clean. Licking genuinely helps.
- Caution: melted sugar is far hotter than boiling water — this is an adults-at-the-stove recipe.
Where to try it
Dalgona carts appear around Seoul's traditional markets and tourist streets (Myeong-dong, Gwangjang area) — usually ₩2,000–₩4,000 with the carve-it-free rule intact.