The year 2024 was a big year for food aficionados here, as new flavours and ingredients came into the spotlight to keep menus exciting.
Among them was chestnut tiramisu, a dessert made from convenience store ingredients by black spoon chef Napoli Matfia, the eventual winner, on the eighth episode of Netflix's megahit cooking competition Culinary Class War.
Convenience store chain CU started stocking its shelves with the tiramisu dessert on Oct 24. Even before its official release, the item became an instant hit with consumers, selling an average of 10,000 to 20,000 units within 20 minutes every day during the nine-day preorder period, according to the company.
Riding high on the novel treat's popularity, a video recipe by food YouTuber Soyohome had garnered over 1 million views as of Wednesday.
Backed by the craze for yogurt ice cream, Yoajung, a frozen yogurt brand whose name is shortened from the phrase "the standard of yogurt ice cream" in Korean, also swept the country this year. In July, convenience store chain GS25 teamed up with Yoajung and developed the Yoajung parfait, a low-sugar frozen treat featuring honey syrup and chocolate balls.
The leading yogurt ice cream franchise had garnered over 25,300 hashtags on Instagram here as of Wednesday. K-pop idols such as Jung-won from Enhypen and Hae-won from Nmixx have been among those singing its praises.
In addition, a gooey chocolate bar from Dubai, aptly dubbed Dubai chocolate among those with a sweet tooth here, took the food scene by storm with its rich and crunchy texture thanks to the pistachio filling, with some making their own homemade version while others indulged in replicas at local convenience stores and confectionaries.
The chocolate craze also drove the black market. On Joonggonara, one of Korea's largest online used goods platforms, a Dubai chocolate package from CU was selling 75 percent higher than its retail price of 4,000 won (RM12.19) in July. — The Korea Herald/Asia News Network
