Tanghulu’s fame surged among Korean adolescents and young adults in 2023, with more than 300 Tanghulu franchisees nationwide.

Tanghulu derives its name from the Chinese term for ‘bottle gourd’, a fruit historically valued for both culinary and medicinal purposes in ancient China.

Tanghulu is a popular street food and winter treat in China and consists of sugar-coated fruit skewer.

Owing to its vibrant colors and satisfying crunchy texture, Tanghulu became one of the most popular content on numerous social media platforms in Korea.

As a result, the Tanghulu trend spread centered on youths, who are the primary audiences of social media.

According to Korea Agro-Fisheries and Food Trade Corporation, “Tanghulu” and “Iced Tanghulu” ranked first and the third spots, respectively, in the most-searched categories among teenagers.

While Tanghulu is now a popular snack for the youth, its historical significance goes beyond its current status.

The history of Tanghulu traces back to approximately 1,000 years ago during the Northern Song dynasty.

Huang Guifei, the Imperial concubine of Emperor Song Guangzong, fell ill from not being able to digest food properly, which left her weak and unnourished.

To cure the illness, a doctor offered her some skewed mountain hawthorns boiled in sugar.

Magically, after several days, Huang Guifei recovered.

The recipe for this magical cure was introduced to the public and later evolved into one of the most famous and beloved treats.

Due to the rarity of mountain hawthorns, they are barely used when making Tanghulu in Korea.

Strawberries, grapes, shine muscat grapes, tangerines, pineapples, and mangoes are some of the fruits that are commonly used to make Tanghulu.

The rising popularity of Tanghulu has led to the creation of unconventional varieties, such as cucumber Tanghulu, rice cake Tanghulu with mala sauce, and macaroon Tanghulu.

Despite the fact that Tanghulu is a widely loved snack, Tanghulu is bringing about adverse health effects and inconvenience.

Regrettably, Tanghulu is deemed unhealthy since it is high in sugar and calories.

This problem mainly comes from using high-sugar fruits as a replacement for mountain hawthorns.

Coating sugar on fruits that are naturally high in sugar negatively impacts one’s health by causing diabetes and obesity.

One of the most notable problems caused by Tanghulu is the dirty streets near Tanghulu shops.

Tanghulu comes with a wooden stick with a small paper cup for the purpose of making it convenient for the customers to eat the fruits that are skewed at the bottom of the stick by pushing them up with the paper cup.

However, wooden sticks and paper cup waste are not properly disposed of as people irresponsibly dump them on the streets.

In addition, fallen sugar crystals often make the streets sticky and attract bugs.

Consequently, some shopkeepers have established ‘No Tanghulu Zones,’ banning customers from bringing Tanghulu into their shops.

A store that declared itself as a ‘No Tanghulu Zone’ put up the slogan, “One piece of Tanghulu fruit dropped on the ground is a drop of tears of the staff.”

Tanghulu’s fame shows no sign of diminishing; therefore, it is important for Tanghulu consumers to enjoy the product while being aware not to cause discomfort to other individuals.

Subin Cho
Grade 9
Saint Johnsbury Academy Jeju