In 2024, the knafeh chocolate bar from Dubai went viral worldwide, inspiring a range of desserts such as Dubai chocolate cakes, cookies and tarts.
The latest trend is the Dubai chewy cookie. Despite its name, it does not originate from Dubai.
Shaped like a Japanese mochi, the snack was created last April by pastry chef Kim Na-ra, who works at South Korean bakery Mond Cookie.
The sweet treat features pistachio cream and crunchy kadaif (a Middle Eastern pastry) that are moulded into small spheres, covered with marshmallow dough and topped with cocoa powder.
In SBS programme Master of Life, Na-ra, a former Navy aviation non-commissioned officer, shared that she had come up with the idea with the help of Mond Cookie CEO Lee Yun-min, whom she met during military service.
At first, she created a chewy cookie coated in marshmallow. A customer then suggested that she fill the cookies with knafeh chocolate, and the Dubai chewy cookie was born.
According to Mond Cookie’s Instagram post on Jan 26, the bakery now produces around 30,000 pieces of Dubai chewy cookies daily.
“Mond Cookie has come this far thanks to your choices,” the bakery wrote.
Dubai chewy cookie craze
How did this sweet treat go viral in South Korea?
Last September, Jang Won-young of K-pop group IVE posted photos of Dubai chewy cookie on social media, sparking public interest.
It soon led to a craze in South Korea — many youths would line up outside bakeries just for the dessert, which sold out in minutes, reported South China Morning Post.
Jumping on the bandwagon, numerous F&B businesses in South Korea created their own versions of the dessert.
With Dubai chewy cookie’s rise in popularity, the prices of its ingredients soared in recent months, Yonhap reported.
According to South Korea’s customs data, the price of a ton of imported pistachio in January was up 84% from the previous year, reaching 28 million won.
This led to higher prices for the snack, with some stores selling Dubai chewy cookie for more than 8,000 won (S$7) apiece.
The craze, however, appears to be dying down in the country, as online search interest in the snack fell to half its peak in 17 days, The Korea Herald reported on Feb 8.
Experts attributed the fast rise and falls of trends to social media-driven consumption.
Viral snack now in Singapore
The good news is we don’t have to fly to South Korea to get a taste of the sweet treat as several bakeries in Singapore — such as Two Bake Boys, The Candy Store, The Pound, and Chewy Lab — have created their own renditions.
Some of us at AsiaOne managed to try the Dubai chewy cookie ($7 each) from cafe Syip, which comes in two flavours: classic and matcha.
https://www.instagram.com/syip.sg/p/DUMo4eokmWN/
Content producer Joanne Chua noted that Syip uses mochi instead of marshmallows for the dough, so the snack was not as sweet as she thought it would be, all while retaining the dessert’s chewy texture. While Joanne enjoyed it, she prefers the original knafeh chocolate bar.
Meanwhile, editorial strategist Carol Ong described the dessert’s flavours as “well-balanced”, adding that there was a slight bitterness from the cocoa powder as well. The filling wasn’t creamy or smooth, and was more on the gritty side, she pointed out.
On the other hand, branded partnerships executive Kimberly Foo tried the Dubai chewy cookie from dessert shop Yoajung.
She had thought the Dubai chewy cookie was “overhyped” and anticipated it to be very sweet, but she was proven wrong.
Yoajung’s rendition comes with an additional ingredient — frozen yoghurt.
The tartness from the yoghurt helped cut through the sweetness of the Dubai chewy cookie, Kimberly said, adding that the pistachio taste was very strong.
Now that the viral snack has arrived on our shores, will you give it a try?
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