This dalgona candy recipe is just like the one from the popular Netflix series, Squid Game! This Korean sweet treat is a crunchy, honeycomb-like candy that's made with just 2 ingredients!
Korean dalgona candy, also commonly referred to as ppopgi, has become increasingly popular due to the show, Squid Game. In this show, contestants have to play a children's game using the dalgona candy.
However, this is a real game played in Korean cities. Young children use a needle or toothpick in an attempt to remove the shape from the candy (ppopgi means "to pick"). Successful children often get rewarded with a free second dalgona candy! In the Netflix show, this game is a matter of life or death.
Dalgona candy is very simple to make, with just 2 ingredients. Combining hot sugar and baking soda over heat and then cooled into a crispy candy. Despite its simplicity, it can be a bit tricky to master.
Aside from just eating it plain, you can crumble it up and serve it over Vegan Ice Cream!
Why you'll love this recipe
- Test your Squid Game skills at home - Could you survive in the Squid Game? Make this recipe in your own kitchen and try ppopgi out!
- Simple Sweet Treat - Once you get the hang of it, this candy is so easy to whip up and you almost always have the ingredients!
- Great for Children - Its a sugary candy AND a fun game all in one!
What you need for this recipe
Ingredients:
- White Sugar - I believe this will work with other types of sugars, but I have not tested it. I don't recommend trying sugar alternatives.
- Baking Soda - Baking powder will not work as a substitute.
Equipment:
- Large metal ladle OR small metal-bottomed pot
- Chopsticks or wooden spoon or rubber spatula
- Cookie Cutter
How to make this recipe
Step 1: Cook Candy
Over a low-medium heat in a metal-bottomed pan OR large metal ladle, add sugar and wait for a few seconds until the edges begin to melt.
Once the edges start melting, lower the heat and stir.
Allow sugars to caramelize and become liquid. Stir continuously.
Once the sugar has become an amber-colored liquid, remove the heat source and allow to cool slightly.
Next, add a very small pinch of baking soda and stir immediately and vigorously until the mixture becomes frothy, a lighter color, and the baking soda has fully dissolved.
Step 2: Press
Slowly pour the mixture onto a piece of parchment paper, a silicone mat, or a flat surface with cooking spray.
Quickly use a flat metal surface (spatula, the bottom of a pan, a measuring cup, etc.) to press the dalgona until it is about ¼ inch in thickness. Start by gently tapping to make sure it is not sticking to the flat surface.
Step 3: Add Shapes
Before the candy cools completely, use a small cookie cutter to imprint a shape into the center of the candy.
(In the show, Squid Game, the shapes are stars, umbrellas, triangles, or circles.)
Be sure to press just firmly enough to leave an imprint, but not to go all the way through.
Allow the candy to cool, then remove from its surface and enjoy!
Expert Tips & Tricks
- Any flat metal surface will work for flattening the dalgona candy. I found that the "pushing" part of a handheld potato ricer, with the pieces removed, worked perfectly and formed the exact size circle I was looking for. A metal bench scraper or small baking pan are other great alternatives!
- Be very careful when melting the sugar as it can burn very easily. The key to melting the sugar without burning is to keep the heat low-medium, be patient, and stir constantly.
- Don’t have any cookie cutters or shapes small enough for the candies? Get creative or omit them entirely! Do you have a funky shaped, clean, and cheap piece of jewelry? You could even use a clean key or the back of a fork. Also, omitting the fun shape entirely is fine too! It adds nothing to the flavor, so don't worry too much if you can't find anything!
- The candy cools and hardens very quickly, so don't take too long between pressing and imprinting.
- I do not recommend using a nonstick pan. Although I think a nonstick pan will work well, when the leftover candy hardens and cools, you may ruin the nonstick coating trying to clean it.
Recipe FAQs
The literal translation of dalgona in Korean means "it's sweet." However, it is most often translated as "honeycomb toffee."
Dalgona, which means honeycomb toffee in Korean, is a crunchy and sweet candy made out of sugar and baking soda. It is popular for children in Korean cities to play ppopgi, which is the game played in the show Squid Game.
When this sweet treat came into popularity in Korea in the 1960's, there was a difference between ppopgi and dalgona candy. Ppopgi was made from white sugar (which was more expensive), while dalgona was made from glucose solids. Today, the ppopgi and dalgona are used interchangeably and white sugar is most commonly used.
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Dalgona Candy (Ppopgi)
Equipment
- Large metal ladle OR small metal-bottomed pot
- Chopsticks or wooden spoon
- Cookie Cutter
- Metal flat surface (to press the cookies) **see notes**
- Parchment paper or silicone mat
Ingredients
- 1½ tablespoon White Sugar
- 1/16 teaspoon Baking Soda very tiny pinch
Instructions
- Over a low-medium heat in a metal-bottomed pan OR large metal ladle, add sugar and wait for a few seconds until the edges begin to melt.
- Once the edges start melting, lower the heat and stir.
- Allow sugars to caramelize and become liquid. Stir continuously.
- Once the sugar has become an amber-colored liquid, remove the heat source and allow to cool slightly.
- Next, add a very small pinch of baking soda and stir immediately and vigorously until the mixture becomes frothy, a lighter color, and the baking soda has fully dissolved.
- Slowly pour the mixture onto a piece of parchment paper, a silicone mat, or a flat surface with cooking spray.
- Quickly use a flat metal surface (spatula, the bottom of a pan, a measuring cup, etc.) to press the dalgona until it is about ¼ inch in thickness. Start by gently tapping to make sure it is not sticking to the flat surface.
- Before the candy cools completely, use a small cookie cutter to imprint a shape into the center of the candy.
- (In the show, Squid Game, the shapes are stars, umbrellas, triangles, or circles.)
- Be sure to press just firmly enough to leave an imprint, but not to go all the way through.
- Allow the candy to cool, then remove from its surface and enjoy!
Notes
- Any flat metal surface will work for flattening the dalgona candy. I found that a handheld potato ricer, with the pieces removed, worked perfectly and formed the exact size circle I was looking for. A metal bench scraper or small baking pan are other great alternatives!
- Be very careful when melting the sugar as it can burn very easily. The key to melting the sugar without burning is to keep the heat low-medium, be patient, and stir constantly.
- Don’t have any cookie cutters or shapes small enough for the candies? Get creative or omit them entirely! Do you have a funky shaped, clean, and cheap piece of jewelry? You could even use a clean key or the back of a fork. Also, omitting the fun shape entirely is fine too! It adds nothing to the flavor, so don't worry too much if you can't find anything!
- The candy cools and hardens very quickly, so don't take too long between pressing and imprinting.
- I do not recommend using a nonstick pan. Although I think a nonstick pan will work well, when the leftover candy hardens and cools, you may ruin the nonstick coating trying to clean it.
Lindsay M
obsessed 🤩🤩🤩
Anonymous
Delicious!
Anonymous
So good!!
Anonymous
GREAT. THANKS.
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I ate this candy in 1976 as a young child my dad was stationed in Taegu .I remember the man teaching me how to make it in the market place .I really appreciate you putting this on here I've made it for my children but didn't know there was a game involved I just found a new Christmas tradition that 8m sure my grand children are going to love .I'll make it once a year for Christmas it should be a fun time
Emily
I love hearing this, thank you so much for the comment! It's such a fun and easy treat to make!
Michael
Thank goodness for “squid games”
Yummy 😋