Dalgona Candy Challenge

About

Dalgona Candy Challenge or Squid Game Candy Challenge refers to a TikTok challenge where participants attempt to carefully extract a shape out of traditional Korean dalgona, also known as ppopgi and honeycomb toffee. The challenge copies a scene from the 2021 South Korean survival drama series Squid Game in which competitors of a deadly game have to carefully chisel out shapes out of dalgonas using a sewing needle within 10 minutes without breaking the shape.

Origin

On September 17th, the South Korean survival drama series Squid Game premiered on Netflix.^[1] In episode three of the series, competitors in a deadly game are given dalgona candy with imprints of four different shapes (triangle, circle, star and umbrella) and have to carefully extract the shape without breaking it within 10 minutes. Failing the task results in death (scene shown below).

Spread

Following the explosive popularity of the show, a trend in which users cooked dalgona candy and attempted to chisel out the shape with a needle became viral on TikTok. On September 21st, TikToker^[2] pattygurlz posted one of the earliest viral clips inspired by the Squid Game episode, with the video gaining over 13 million views and 1.9 million likes in roughly one week (shown below, left).

In the following days, multiple users on TikTok^[3][4] posted videos in which they either cooked the candy, attempted to chisel the shape out of it, or both, as well as referencing the show's challenge in humorous skits (examples shown below, center and right.

Many of the videos used an audio clip of a giant doll from episode one of the series saying "green light, red light" in Korean.

Recipe

• Heat 1 1/2 tablespoons of sugar in a ladle over low or medium-low heat. Stir the sugar as it starts to melt, preferably with a wooden stick.
• Keep heating the sugar until it carnalizes and attains an amber color
• Remove the ladle from the heat and add a pinch of baking soda. Keep stirring
• Pour the sugar onto a silicon mat or parchment. Use a Hotteok press or a similar object to flatten it.
• Use a cookie cutter to add the shape wanted.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References