Dalgona

Name: Dalgona
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 5 min
Total time: 10 min
Yield: 1 serving
Cuisine: Korean
Ingredients: 40 g white granulated sugar; 0.25 tsp bicarbonate of soda; 0.5 tsp neutral oil

The Korean street candy also called ppopgi: sugar melted in a ladle, puffed up with a pinch of bicarbonate of soda, pressed flat and stamped with a shape you then try to pick out without cracking it. Two ingredients, sixty seconds of nerve.

Snacks Desserts Vegan Under 400 kcal Under 30 min

10 min5 prep · 5 cookMedium176 kcalper serving

Method

Lay a sheet of baking parchment on a heatproof board. Using 0.5 tsp of neutral oil on a piece of kitchen paper, lightly grease the parchment, the flat base of a small metal pan or spatula that you will use as a press, and a small cookie cutter (star, umbrella or heart). Have a wooden chopstick ready — everything must be within arm's reach before you start.
Put 40 g of white granulated sugar into a small stainless steel ladle and hold it over a low gas flame or set it on the smallest burner. Stir slowly and constantly with the wooden chopstick for 2-3 minutes, letting the sugar melt from the edges inwards.
Keep the heat low: the syrup is ready when every grain has dissolved and it is a clear, pale amber, the colour of runny honey, and just beginning to smell caramelly. If it darkens to deep brown it will taste bitter, so lift the ladle away from the flame the moment the colour is right.