Dalgona coffee

 

If you are hooked on Netflix and specifically the series "The Squid Game" this is your drink. It was born in South Korea during the confinement caused by COVID-19 and has spread very quickly thanks to Instagram and TikTok (an application, heir to Vines, which allows making viral videos of very short duration), more for the visual aspect than for the innovation it entails. In fact, this preparation could be considered a copy of a very popular drink in India called Fenti Hui.

It is a coffee cream that floats on milk and is visually very impressive. For the cream to float on the milk - at least long enough to take the photo and upload it to social networks - it is necessary to beat the soluble coffee with the sugar for a long time so that it 1) takes in enough air and 2) acquires a flavor similar to candy (that's where the name comes from, as Dalgona is a sweet, a candy, very popular in Korea). Once you have taken the photo and shared it with everyone, you can now beat it well to mix the milk with the coffee cream since taking it as it appears in the photo does not make much sense. This is at the end a latte, not first a coffee creamer and then the milk.

INGREDIENTS (4 people):

• 4 teaspoons of soluble coffee (to the taste of each diner, some with a teaspoon is more than enough, others prefer it more loaded)
• 4 teaspoons of sugar
• 4 tablespoons of hot water
• 400 ml of milk (half a cup of milk for each diner, two cups in total), warm or at room temperatura
• optional: if it's hot season, a couple of ice cubes per cup
• optional: cocoa powder for garnish

To make dalgona you must have a blender or electric stirrers or a food processor. It can be done by hand with  rods but it is tiring.

In a blender, pour the instant coffee, the sugar and the hot or warm water. It should be beaten at medium-high speed for 8 minutes and an additional 1 minute at maximum power so that it airs well.

While we pour the milk at room temperature, warm or cold - depending on what you want - in a glass so that there are at least three fingers between the surface of it and the edge (so that there is room for the cream). If you want ice cubes, it is time to add them.

The cream is then poured into each glass and sprinkled on top, if you like, with cocoa powder.

It is served immediately, you take the photo for the social network and once done, stirring well we mix both layers unless you want to take it like that which is not comfortable at all.