One Bite and It's "Truly Surprising"... North Korea Patents 'Borakong Chocolate'

Development of Technology to Replace Cocoa Powder with Fava Beans

Patent Registered... Claims of "Similar Taste and Nutrition"

Amid difficulties in securing imported ingredients due to international sanctions, North Korea has reportedly developed a technology to produce chocolate using purple soybeans (also known as fava beans) instead of cocoa. This technology has been registered as a patent and is reportedly being used in actual production.

Chocolate developed by North Korea using purple soybeans instead of cocoa powder. Yonhap News

On June 22, Yonhap News reported that the Choson Sinbo, the official newspaper of the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan (Chongryon), introduced these developments in an article titled, "Chocolate Made from Domestic Ingredients Draws Attention...Cocoa Powder Replaced by Borakong."

According to the report, researchers at Yanggang Industrial University developed a technology to process purple soybeans (fava beans) to replace cocoa powder, the key ingredient in chocolate. The Choson Sinbo stated that, through this innovation, they succeeded in creating a product that is "nutritionally comparable" to conventional chocolate.

The Choson Sinbo cited issues with sourcing ingredients as the background for this technological development. "Most of the ingredients required for production are not produced domestically, which has imposed a series of restrictions on normalizing production," the paper explained. Due to international sanctions against North Korea and difficulties in securing raw materials, including cocoa, the country set out to develop alternative technologies.

Typically, chocolate is made by fermenting, drying, and roasting cacao beans, which are the seeds of the cacao fruit. If the claims of the Choson Sinbo are accurate, North Korea has succeeded in using fava beans to replace cocoa powder, creating a product with similar flavor, aroma, and nutritional content to traditional chocolate.

North Korean residents tasting Borakong chocolate. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

The newspaper reported that this technology has been patented and that the Changbong General Food Factory in Yanggang Province has adopted the production process to manufacture "Borakong Chocolate." The article also included photos of residents tasting the product, which resembles regular chocolate, and reported that those who tried it responded with comments such as "truly surprising."

Meanwhile, "Borakong" is the North Korean name for fava bean (also known as jamdu or fava bean), which is widely used as an ingredient in various products, including the Chinese sauce Doubanjiang. Recently, as climate change has caused a sharp rise in cocoa prices, the development of chocolate alternatives using fava beans and other ingredients has been accelerating overseas as well. In fact, there have been reports that a British startup developed a fava bean-based alternative chocolate manufacturing technology, which was later acquired by a German food company.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.