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KVIBE IDOLS › Food guides › Korean dishes explained › 탕후루 (tanghulu)
🍜 Korean dishes explained
Tanghulu in Korea탕후루 · tanghulu
What is it?
A Chinese street snack of fruit (strawberries, grapes, tangerine) dipped in boiling sugar that sets into a crunchy glass shell. It was sold in Incheon's Chinatown since the early 2000s, then went viral on TikTok and YouTube in Korea in 2023 before the boom faded in 2024 amid sugar concerns.
How to eat it
- Bite carefully — the sugar shell is hard and sharp.
- Eat it soon; it gets sticky in heat.
- Throw sticks in the bins shops provide — many streets banned littered skewers.
- Typical price
- ₩3,000–6,000 per skewer
Where to try it
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Is tanghulu still popular in Korea?
The 2023 boom has cooled and many specialty shops closed, but you can still find it in markets and Chinatown.
Is it Korean?
No, it is a traditional Chinese snack that became a Korean social-media trend.
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