‘Dubai’ cookies a hit in S Korea

Chewy, crunchy and not-too-sweet, round, chocolatey “Dubai-style” cookies have become the must-have dessert in South Korea, with the rush for the snacks even prompting the Red Cross to offer them as a draw for blood donors.

- HIEUN SHIN

An employee arranges 'Dubai-style' cookies at a bakery cafe in Seoul yesterday. Customers queue as early as 6 am for the confectionery.

(AFP)

Springboarding off a global craze for “Dubai chocolate” — a pistachio-filled chocolate bar layered with fine shredded pastry known as kadaif— and fuelled by K-pop endorsements, duj-jonku have become a phenomenon in South Korea.

Online searches for the dessert surged more than twenty-fold in the last three months, according to data from Naver, the country’s largest search engine.

Searches on food delivery apps for the snacks jumped by 1,500 times last month.

And one developer even created an online map to track which shops still have stock remaining. Convenience store versions have also repeatedly sold out.

Customers have lined up outside shops in the early hours of the morning, even as temperatures have plunged in South Korea's bitter winter.