Dubai Chewy Cookie (두쫀쿠)

So, there is this very popular trending food in Korea right now (but, I mean, when isn’t there?) — it’s called a Dubai Chewy Cookie, or in Korean: 두쫀쿠 = 두바이 (Dubai) + 쫀득 (chewy) + 쿠키 (cookie).

If you haven’t heard of 두쫀쿠, it’s this pastry that is not from Dubai (it’s from Korea). It looks absolutely nothing like a cookie, but it is certainly chewy. (sigh, who came up with this name?)

It is this ball that is filled with kadaif (a Middle-Eastern pastry), mixed with pistachio butter and white chocolate and then wrapped in a chocolate marshmallow cover and coated with cocoa powder. To top it all off, these things can run close to 만오천원 for a single one! (That’s close to $10 for a single pastry!) The hype is in full swing. Here is a picture of one:

They have become such a popular trend there is even a live map that you can use to see where to get your hands on 두쫀쿠 and if that place is out!

I see a lot of red...

If you’re familiar with Culinary Class Wars, the judge, Chef Anh, has a video where he and his daughter make the “cookies” to redeem himself after he tried to elevate them but failed miserably. Feel free to take a watch below!

But instead of talking about the cookies, we’re actually going to cover the language around trends in Korea — words that you can use to describe things that are popular, need to be tried, or overhyped (in our opinion, the 두쫀쿠 is quite overhyped, but I guess you should try it once). Trends spread like wildfire in Korea and take over in a split second. A comment that really stuck with us described a foreigner’s impression of Korea when they first arrived: Koreans love standing in lines. 😂

To that end, we will take a look at the multitude of ways of describing trends in Korea!

Popular / Trending

• 유행 — trend
• 유행이다 / 유행하고 있다 — it's trending
• 핫하다 — to be hot/popular (“hot” + -하다 = to be hot)
• 뜨다 / 뜨고 있다 — to blow up, become popular
  • The verb means "to rise" or "to float," but for trends it means something is blowing up.
• 대세 — the thing right now, mainstream trend 👈 this is currently where 두쫀쿠 is
  • Literally "big trend" or "the current". When something or someone is 대세, they're the thing right now, practically unavoidable. You'll often hear it for celebrities: "요즘 대세 배우" (the actor everyone's talking about these days). It implies a kind of cultural dominance.

• 입소문 — word of mouth
• SNS에서 난리다 — it's blowing up on social media
• 줄 서서 먹다 — to wait in line to eat something

Must-Try

• 강추 (short for 강력 추천) — strongly recommend
• 필수템 — must-have item
• 인생 ____ — life-changing ____ (인생 맛집, 인생 카페, 인생 떡볶이)
  • This construction is everywhere. 인생 means "life," so 인생 맛집 is a restaurant so good it changed your life. 인생 샷 is the best photo you've ever taken. You can attach it to almost anything: 인생 커피, 인생 영화, 인생 떡볶이...
• 꼭 먹어봐야 해 — you have to try it
• 안 먹어보면 후회해 — you'll regret not trying it

Overhyped / Disappointing

• 과대평가 — overrated
• 별로야 — it's meh / not great
• 그냥 그래 — it's just okay
• 기대에 못 미쳐 — doesn't meet expectations
• 비추 (short for 비 추천) — not recommend

Bonus: Trend Culture Words

• 오픈런 — rushing to a store/cafe right when it opens (literally “open run”)
  • A Konglish word describing the act of literally running to a store the moment it opens. This became huge with limited-edition drops, popular bakeries, and department store sales.
• 내돈내산 (short for 내 돈 주고 내가 산 것) — “I bought it with my own money.”
  • You’ll see it used frequently to emphasize that a review is genuine and unsponsored.
• 두쫀쿠플레이션 (두쫀쿠 + 인플레이션 (inflation))
  • With 두쫀쿠’s popularity exploding, ingredient orders are pouring in and is causing prices to soar, leading to what we now call "Dujjonku-flation." It’s gotten to the point where people are paying a huge premium—sometimes multiple times the retail price—just to get their hands on the ingredients. For instance, a kilogram of pistachio shot up nearly 4x since the craze began!

If you’ve tried 두쫀쿠, what do you think? 강추 or 과대평가? Let us know!