A Korean sweet
Dalgona, a traditional
Korean sugar candy
Melt sugar and add a little baking soda, and a golden candy rises with a sweet, toasted aroma. This is dalgona: a traditional Korean treat with a caramel flavour and a light, crisp texture.
Waiting for a candy outside the school gate. Carefully picking out a stamped shape. For generations of Koreans, dalgona holds a small piece of childhood.
Read more · VisitKorea
01 · Since the 1950s
A street-corner sweet.
A lasting memory.
The exact origin of dalgona is uncertain. Photographs taken by James Johnson, a U.S. soldier stationed in Daegu from 1953 to 1955, show that dalgona stalls were already part of the city.
As sugar became more widely available in the 1960s, dalgona and ppopgi spread. By the 1970s and 1980s they were familiar treats at school gates and in neighbourhood alleys.
Dalgona, ppopgi, ttigi, ttegi, gukja, jjokja. Its many regional names reflect how widely this little sweet was enjoyed.
Glucose-based dalgona and sugar-based ppopgi were once distinct treats. Today, dalgona also commonly means the stamped sugar candy made for the shape-cutting game.
Read more · National Folk Museum / KOCIS · 2024.03
02 · How it is made
A spoonful of sugar.
A moment of transformation.
- MeltStir sugar in a ladle over heat until it melts, turns golden and develops a caramel aroma.
- Let it riseMix in a little baking soda and watch the candy puff up.
- Press and stampPour onto a metal surface, press flat and stamp a shape before the candy sets.
Read more · KOCIS · 2024.03 / National Folk Museum
03 · The ppopgi game
A sweet to eat.
A shape to save.
The challenge is to remove the stamped shape without breaking it. With a needle and a steady hand, players carefully follow the line around a star or a circle.
A successful attempt could earn another candy or a small prize. A simple sugar sweet offered the pleasure of waiting, concentrating and finally holding an intact shape.
Circle · Triangle · Star · Umbrella
Read more · National Folk Museum / Netflix Tudum
04 · The world discovers dalgona, 2021
From Squid Game
to streets around the world
When the dalgona challenge appeared in Netflix’s Squid Game in 2021, a familiar Korean childhood game found a worldwide audience. Players had to remove a circle, triangle, star or umbrella without cracking it.
People in many countries began making the candy and trying the challenge. The photograph shows a dalgona stall in Taipei in 2021: a Korean street treat becoming a shared cultural experience beyond Korea.
Read more · Netflix Tudum / KOCIS · 2024.03
05 · Golden Dalgona by Cheongwon Food
The traditional taste.
A new texture.
Drawing on two generations of candy making, Cheongwon Food brings the flavour of dalgona to a lollipop. Golden Dalgona keeps the sweet, toasted taste that brings back a childhood memory.
Hard and soft are textures Cheongwon Food has researched in making dalgona. To discuss texture, shape or packaging, tell us what you have in mind.
The 50-piece pack sold in South Korea is made in China and imported by Cheongwon Food.
Product development
A difficult time.
A new beginning.
During the COVID-19 years, trade and distribution slowed and production and sales became difficult. With the company’s future at stake, the second generation took on a new method and a new product. That product became Golden Dalgona Candy.
About three years of machine development
Existing machinery could not solve every problem. Cheongwon Food spent about three years developing new manufacturing equipment, combining traditional memories with new technology and ideas.
Production partnerships and global businessThe pack
The 50-piece pack sold in South Korea
- Product
- Golden Dalgona / DALGONA LOLLIPOP
- Pack
- 13 g × 50 pieces, 650 g total. PP bag and PP stick.
- Origin
- China
- Manufacturer
- GANZHOU KEMAISI FOOD CO., LTD.
- Importer
- Cheongwon Food
17-42, Pyeonghwa-ro 1429beon-gil,
Yangju-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea - Ingredients
- Sugar, starch syrup, sodium bicarbonate
- Storage
- Store in a cool place, away from direct sunlight
- Allergens
- Made in a facility that also handles peach, soy, wheat, tomato and milk
- Nutrition
- Per 13 g: 52 kcal, sodium 15.1 mg, carbohydrate 12.9 g, sugars 11 g, fat 0 g, trans fat 0 g, saturated fat 0 g, cholesterol 0 mg, protein 0 g
These details are printed on the pack sold in South Korea. If you need another country or another pack, please ask, and we will tell you what we can confirm. The date printed on the pack is the use-by date of that lot.
Production in China
Preparation and trial production in China
With a manufacturing partner in China, Cheongwon Food is preparing the facilities and making trial product. Quality, texture and manufacturing conditions are reviewed as the work goes on.