Many sources say the viral spring onion latte originated in China, where some food and drink combinations we would consider unconventional stateside are fairly common. The New York Times notes that Chinese culture has a food category called “dark cuisine” or “hei an liao li.” The term itself dates back to a 1990s manga series.
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This dark cuisine is meant to challenge the senses and look unappetizing at first glance. While people have not outright labeled this coffee trend as being in this category, it certainly makes sense that it could be related to the dark cuisine phenomenon since it seems intentionally jarring to the senses. However, dark cuisine dishes can get much wilder than simply stirring chopped spring onions into an iced latte. How would you like chicken wings braised in bright blue soda? Or ice cream fried rice? By comparison, spring onion coffee seems relatively tame.