Jakarta (ANTARA) – The popularity of the “Squid Game” series has made dalgona candy traders in South Korea splashed with food because old snacks have appeared in the series.
The series went viral because it featured children’s games but with deadly consequences. One of the challenges that the contestants face in the game is to perfectly cut the dalgona candy according to the mold. If any are cracked, the competitors must face the masked shooter.
Quoted by Reuters, the dalgona is usually sold in different forms, but in the “Squid Game” the dalgona is made in the form of triangles, circles, stars and umbrellas. A dalgona candy costs 2,000 won (roughly Rp.24,000), but there is a bonus for the person who can take that candy out of the mold without a problem.
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An Yong-hui (37) has been in the dalgona business for eight years in Seoul’s university district. He and his colleagues used 15 kg of sugar to make 700 dalgona which was used for the third episode of “Squid Game” which was filmed in June 2020.
When the popularity of the series that aired last month skyrocketed, An was unable to return home for a week as he had to serve the “Squid Game” fans who lined up outside his roadside kitchen. .
Before the release of “Squid Game”, the average number of dalgona candies sold was less than 200 pieces. Now he has managed to sell over 500 dalgona candies a day.
“We thought we should put our guns here too,” An said with a laugh, referring to the punishment that awaited the “Squid Game” contestants who lost the match.
For South Koreans, dalgona vendors were typically in front of schools until the early 2000s, but this trend has slowly dissipated.
Seoul freshman Lee You-hee revealed that he often hears about dalgona challenges from his father and grandmother.
“This is my first time trying it and I was so surprised because the candies crack so easily!” he said after failing the challenge at An’s Tavern.
As the series went viral, overseas viewers uploaded videos of them making dalgonas and trying to solve challenges like in the “Squid Game” via social media such as Tik Tok.
This trend is also being noticed by marketplaces such as Amazon and eBay who have started selling tools for making dalgona.
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Translator: Nanien Yuniar
Editor: Maria Rosari Dwi Putri
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