Dubai chewy cookie

Taste and texture

Dujjonku is short for Dubai chewy cookie. A representative form wraps a pistachio-and-kataifi filling in a chewy marshmallow-based shell. Inside are nutty flavour and crisp strands; outside is a sweet, stretchy layer. Think of contrasting textures wrapped together rather than a uniformly hard baked cookie.

Kataifi is a fine, string-like pastry. Manufacturer Antoniou describes dripping thin batter through narrow openings onto a hot rotating plate to cook it briefly into strands. The process differs from cutting a sheet of filo into shreds. In dujjonku, these fine pastry strands are cooked crisp and provide small crunchy pieces within the creamy filling.

The filling connects it with Dubai chocolate. Antoniou combines kataifi and pistachio spread, with optional tahini, a sesame paste, for that chocolate filling. A chocolate bar breaks through a firm chocolate exterior, while dujjonku is bitten through a chewy wrapper. A shared filling can therefore create a different eating experience when the outer layer changes.

One marshmallow-shell recipe also includes butter, cocoa powder and milk powder. 10000recipe melts marshmallows with butter, adds the powders, then lets the mixture cool slightly before wrapping the filling. This differs from baking flour-based cookie dough until firm. A dusting of cocoa can finish the outside, so a brown exterior does not necessarily mean a thick chocolate coating.

Fillings may simply mix kataifi with pistachio, or include white chocolate and chopped nuts. The 10000recipe example adds chopped pistachios and white chocolate alongside pistachio paste; Antoniou centres its version on kataifi and pistachio cream or paste. The soft ingredients bind the strands while retaining a structure that can be bitten through.

A glutinous-rice-cake version is a distinct variation. CU’s product developer explains choosing rice-cake skin instead of working with marshmallow, while retaining chewy and crisp textures. Even with a similar nut filling, Dubai chewy rice cake has a rice-based exterior. Checking whether the wrapper is marshmallow or rice cake helps match the texture you expect.

The shell gives a chewy resistance while kataifi breaks into small crisp pieces. Antoniou’s tasting description emphasizes that contrast between sweet chocolate marshmallow and a crunchy pistachio-kataifi centre. Smaller bites help distinguish them: a thicker wrapper emphasizes marshmallow, while more filling brings nuts and pastry strands forward.

Kataifi is not crisp merely because it is thin. Antoniou cuts and separates the strands before cooking them evenly in a pan. Its example uses a dry pan, while 10000recipe adds butter and bakes the strands again. Both aim to cook them evenly for crunch, distinguishing prepared filling from soft uncooked pastry.

Pistachio ingredients differ in sweetness and consistency. Callebaut offers an unsweetened paste of lightly roasted, finely ground pistachios. Dujjonku recipes may instead include sweet spread or additional white chocolate. Using paste does not by itself make the finished dessert less sweet: the marshmallow and all filling additions determine the overall flavour.

More exposed kataifi gives a strand-led crunch, while a generous amount of spread makes a softer, more cohesive filling. Antoniou explains that the cream’s consistency and mixing ratio affect the result. CU’s rice-cake development also adjusted the filling to preserve kataifi crunch. Visible strands and the actual bite explain the filling better than the depth of its green colour.

How to order it in Korea

1. Dubai chewy cookies and Dubai chewy rice cakes are variants with different outer skins. Check for marshmallow if that is the chew you expect, or glutinous rice skin if you want a rice-cake texture. Even with pistachio and kataifi inside, changing the skin changes the bite.