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The chewy craze that started with the Dubai Chewy Cookie (nicknamed Dujonku) has quickly jumped to rice cake desserts. On the 27th, industry sources reported that convenience stores, cafes, home-shopping channels and even supermarket culture centers are introducing related products and content. It’s beginning to feel like a full-blown category trend.
The most notable shift in the dessert market right now is texture. Where taste and price once ruled purchase decisions, shoppers today are obsessed with the joy of chewing — the texture experience. Chewiness, in particular, delivers a powerful visual punch on social media and short-form platforms, making it perfectly primed for viral moments.
In that environment, tteok has become a natural frontrunner. Familiar as a traditional snack and naturally chewy thanks to glutinous rice, tteok fits the trend and is enjoying renewed attention. Makers are riffing on it by blending Western dessert elements—think butter, chocolate and fruit—to create fusion tteok.
Leading the charge is butter tteok, a twist on Shanghai’s traditional nian gao. With a crunchy exterior and a delightfully chewy interior — that satisfying crispy-outside, chewy-inside texture — plus a rich buttery finish, this treat has spread fast across social media and YouTube and is carving out space in the Korean market. It’s become less just a snack and more a “must-try” content-driven dessert.
Convenience store chains have been fastest to commercialize the trend. CU moved early to claim market share by launching a Shanghai-style salted butter tteok, made with premium natural butter for a richer flavor, and promoting limited daily preorders through its PocketCU app as part of aggressive marketing.
7-Eleven is also tapping into dessert habits among the Z-plus generation with a butter tteok lineup. It started with bite-sized Shanghai butter mochi balls and plans to expand next month with an egg-tart-shaped chewy butter mochi and a higher-butter “butter-packed chewy mochi,” reinforcing its reputation as a go-to spot for convenience-store desserts.
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Interest in do-it-yourself dessert experiences is rising too. Homeplus Culture Center is offering a one-day class called “Make Crispy-Outside, Chewy-Inside Shanghai Butter Tteok” at over 70 locations nationwide. Its earlier Dubai Chewy Cookie classes sold out as soon as registration opened, so organizers expect strong participation from young consumers for the butter tteok sessions as well.
Traditional tteok brands are stepping up their online presence as well. NS Home Shopping recently ran a social-media and YouTube special featuring Gwangju’s local favorite Chang-eok Tteok, the shop that went viral for having customers line up. A shout-out from a famous singer boosted interest further, and NS Home Shopping designed the program so viewers can buy the product easily at home without waiting — appealing to shoppers tired of “tteok-ticketing.”
Classic tteok desserts are getting modernized flavors, too. Ediya Coffee, building on last year’s hit Strawberry Soksok Mochi Tteok, launched two new varieties: Lemon Soksok and Green Grape Soksok mochi tteok. The chewy base pairs with bright fruit notes and a white-chocolate coating to amplify the bite and highlight springtime vibes.
An industry insider noted that while the Dubai cookie drew attention for its crisp, unusual texture, today’s winners are fusion tteok that combine the familiar Korean chew with Western butter richness or zesty fruit flavors. With trend cycles shortening and consumer demand evolving, retailers’ efforts to stand out with distinctive desserts are likely to intensify.
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