A hard dough of honey-maltose mixture is kneaded, twisted, stretched and pulled into skeins of silky threads, in which assorted candied nuts, chocolate, or other fillings are wrapped.

Its original name was yongsuyeom (용수염), a direct translation of the Chinese name "Dragon's beard" (龙须糖).

The first line of stores that opened in Seoul who marketed it as kkul-tarae were inspired from the Dragon's beard candy that was sold in Chinese hotels.

Despite initially revealing its Chinese origins explicitly, the Korean brands later changed their marketing strategy by attributing a fake history for the dessert, claiming it as a traditional Korean dessert enjoyed by the royal court with a 500 year old history.

[2] The name kkul-tarae was trademarked 7 November 2000 with intent to sell dessert similar to Dragon's beard candy in Korea.