Dujjonku is the massive craze lately, have you guys tried it? The Dubai Chocolate trend from 2024 just won't stay dead—it's back for round two as the 'Dubai Jjondeuk (Chewy) Cookie.' It’s wild how every cafe and even random soup shops (?) are jumping on it. I looked into this phenomenon and summarized what we should do in this 'Zero Skill-Cost' AI era. I wrote the text, and Nano Banana handled the images.
The hype really kicked off in September 2025 when Jang Won-young raved about the Dujjonku from 'Palette Dessert.'
The Dujjonku trend is different from your typical dessert hype. Usually, one place dominates, it expands, and then the market consolidates—like Tanghulu or those cream buns and donuts. The big shops get bigger, and the rest just get exhausted trying to keep up. But with Dujjonku, even though there's a 'holy land' shop, the market didn't consolidate. Instead, 'Dujjonku spots' popped up everywhere. Why? Because it’s not some secret gatekept recipe; it spread as a 'format' that anyone could participate in.
There's even a meme that 'Dujjonku is patching up the cracked jars of small business owners.' Failing cafes are suddenly seeing lines out the door. To some, it looks like a literal lifeline.
I did an 'open-run' at Palette Dessert today. They open at 10:00 AM, I got in line at 9:20 AM and was 80th... Finally paid around 10:30 AM. It was freaking cold with the wind, but I was shocked to see so many people there.
Average Dujjonku price is around 7,000 KRW, but here it was 5,200 KRW with a 6-per-person limit. First time trying kadaif—it’s like crunchy noodles inside a chewy chocolate pie with marshmallows. Unique texture. I wasn't mind-blown, but my friends went crazy for them, so I guess I get the hype now lol.
What Chef An Seong-jae’s 'Failed Dujjonku' showed us: Participation, not perfection, drives the spread.
A symbolic moment for this craze was Chef An Seong-jae's video. He made Dujjonku with his kids, and the internet exploded with 10k critical comments. The key here isn't that a 'chef released a perfect recipe.' A perfect answer gets 'admiration,' but a wrong answer invites 'participation.' People started saying 'That's not Dujjonku' and began defining what a *real* one is. That's when the trend shifts from just 'taste' to a protocol (standard). For the first time, a food trend became categorized.
This is the interesting part. Usually, the original shop gets all the clout and the rest are ignored. But here, once a 'sharable recipe' is out, anyone who follows the standard gets recognized.
That's why even soup and sushi places are selling them now... (and apparently, they're selling well...;;)
As I write this, Dujjonku is the #1 search term on Coupang Eats. Damn.
Dujjonku is a preview of the 'Zero Skill-Cost' era.
We're entering an era where you can make anything with just one 'click' (Dalkkak). The illustrations here are pretty decent, and Nano Banana draws them in one click. AI can make videos and even code apps for you. AI turns 'Moats' (competitive advantages) from Skills (rare ability) to Functions (standardized options) to Categories (standardized expectations). It used to be about 'the person/company who knows how,' but now it's 'knowing how is default.' The competition moves from 'skill' to 'category definition' and 'speed of adaptation.' Here's the most important part: In the age of trends, the winner isn't the one with the 'correct answer,' but the one who 'learns faster.' In this chaotic AI transition, my answer to how we survive is: 'Learn faster.' When every skill is open-sourced and costs zero, our only way to survive is to read the category and apply it instantly.
I think we need to evolve from being just 'designers, devs, or marketers' into 'problem solvers' for organizations. If Dujjonku's popularity can breathe life back into small businesses, maybe the AI future isn't so bleak after all.
"The community is vibing with the OP's high-effort analysis, with many users geeking out over the AI-generated visuals and prompts. There's a lot of talk about 'clout' and 'karma' regarding Chef An Seong-jae, while everyone tries to wrap their heads around the 'Dujjonku' cookie meta."
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