You’ve seen the show. You’ve watched Seong Gi-hun frantically lick the back of a brittle, golden disc while a masked guard looms over him with a submachine gun. It looks intense, right? But honestly, the hardest part of the Dalgona challenge isn’t actually the needle—it’s the stove. If you want to know how to make Squid Game cookies at home, you’re basically signing up for a high-stakes chemistry experiment with molten sugar.
It’s sticky. It’s hot. It turns from perfect amber to "trash can fire" in about four seconds.
💡 You might also like: Why Like Ooh Ahh Lyrics Still Define K-Pop Ten Years Later
Dalgona candy, or ppopgi, isn't some new Netflix invention. It’s a nostalgic Korean street snack that dates back to the 1950s and 60s. After the Korean War, expensive sweets were hard to come by, so street vendors started melting cheap sugar and adding a pinch of baking soda to create a light, airy, toffee-like treat. It was the original "loot box" for kids; if you could carve out the shape without breaking it, the vendor usually gave you a second one for free.
The Science of the Bubbles
Why does it puff up? Science.
When you heat sucrose (table sugar) to its melting point, it undergoes caramelization. But the real magic happens when you drop in that tiny bit of sodium bicarbonate—baking soda. The heat causes a chemical reaction that releases carbon dioxide gas. Those bubbles get trapped in the viscous syrup, turning a clear brown liquid into an opaque, creamy-looking foam.
If you use too much soda, it tastes like a metallic cleaning product. Too little, and it’s just a hard piece of glass that’ll chip your tooth. You’ve gotta find that sweet spot where the texture is honeycomb-light but the flavor is still toasted marshmallow.
Gathering Your Gear
Don't just grab a random frying pan. You’ll regret it.
You need a ladle. Specifically, a stainless steel one. In Korea, vendors use small, deep copper or tin tins over a portable burner, but a standard soup ladle works surprisingly well. You also need a flat surface—a silicone mat or a piece of parchment paper—and something to press it flat, like a bowl with a smooth bottom or a professional burger press.
And please, for the love of everything, have a bowl of water nearby. Not for the recipe. For your fingers. Molten sugar is basically culinary napalm.
How to Make Squid Game Cookies Step-by-Step
Start with about two tablespoons of granulated white sugar. Pour it into your ladle and hold it over a medium-low flame. Don't rush this. If the heat is too high, the sugar burns before it even melts. Use a wooden chopstick or a small metal skewer to stir constantly. You'll see the edges start to liquefy first. Keep dragging the crystals into the center until the whole thing is a clear, amber liquid.
Now, remove it from the heat. This is the part people mess up.
If you add the baking soda while the ladle is still over the flame, the mixture will expand too fast and scorch. Take it off the heat, dip the tip of your chopstick into the baking soda—you only need a tiny "smidge"—and stir like your life depends on it. The color will change from dark amber to a light, tan-gold.
Pour it out onto your parchment paper. Let it sit for about 15 to 20 seconds.
If you press it immediately, the candy will stick to your press and ruin the whole thing. You want it to develop a very thin "skin." Once it’s slightly tacky but not liquid, press it down until it's about a quarter-inch thick. While it’s still soft, take your cookie cutter—an umbrella if you're feeling masochistic, or a triangle if you want to actually win—and press it halfway into the center.
Don't press all the way through. You’re making an indentation, not a cutout.
Common Pitfalls and Why Your Candy Sucks
- The Bitter Aftertaste: You definitely used too much baking soda. Use a literal pinch.
- The Sticky Mess: You didn't wait long enough before pressing, or your press wasn't oiled. A tiny bit of cooking spray on the bottom of your pressing tool goes a long way.
- The Rock Hard Disk: You didn't stir in enough air or your sugar didn't reach the right temperature.
- The Black Sludge: You burned the sugar. Throw it out, soak the ladle, and start over. Sugar is cheap; your pride is worth more.
The Cultural Weight of Ppopgi
It’s easy to look at how to make Squid Game cookies as just a viral TikTok trend, but for many Koreans, it’s a deeply nostalgic piece of history. In an interview with The New York Times, Hwang Dong-hyuk, the creator of the show, mentioned how he used to spend his afternoons as a kid trying to win those free candies. The tension in the show comes from turning a symbol of innocent childhood into a life-or-death gamble.
In the 1970s, you’d find these vendors outside every elementary school. They’d have a little portable stove and a line of kids clutching their small change. It was the first "gambling" many kids ever did. The vendor would watch with a smirk, knowing that the umbrella shape was almost impossible to clear.
Beyond the Show: Modern Variations
While the classic recipe is just sugar and soda, people are getting weird with it now. Some bakers are adding a drop of vanilla extract or even a pinch of sea salt to cut the sweetness. Honestly? Stick to the original. The beauty of Dalgona is its simplicity. It’s just carbonized sweetness.
If you’re feeling fancy, you can use the leftover scraps to make Dalgona Coffee. You know, that whipped coffee trend that took over the world back in 2020? Same flavor profile. Just crush up the failed cookies and sprinkle them on top of some frothed milk.
Pro Tips for the Challenge
If you’re actually going to play the game with friends, here is the insider secret. Most people try to "stab" the lines. That’s how you crack the disc. The trick is to create a "score line" by dragging the needle repeatedly across the same groove. This thins out the candy until it basically falls away.
🔗 Read more: Forever Seger Against The Wind: Why That 1980 Classic Still Hits So Hard
And yeah, the licking thing Gi-hun did? It actually works. The moisture from your tongue dissolves the sugar bond along the indentation. It’s gross, it’s messy, and it’ll give you a massive sugar rush, but it’s the most effective way to win without a sniper taking you out.
Actionable Next Steps
- Check your baking soda: If it’s been sitting open in your fridge for six months, it won't react properly. Buy a fresh box.
- Prep the landing zone: Lightly dust your parchment paper with a tiny bit of powdered sugar or spray it with oil before you pour the molten sugar.
- The Ladle Soak: As soon as you pour the candy, drop the hot ladle into a sink full of hot water. If you let that sugar harden, you'll be scrubbing for an hour.
- Practice the "Smidge": Do three "test burns" just to see how the color changes. Don't even try for a shape until you can consistently get the foam to a light tan color without it smelling like smoke.
- Safety first: Wear an oven mitt. Ladles get hot, and sugar burns are no joke.