Samyang Buldalk Bokkeum Myeon, the original fiery behemoth of a cup of noodles is here to light up your mouth. Packing a ferocious 4,404 SHU (Scoville Heat Units) and a molten sauce that coats your taste buds, these noodles are quite the challenge. This cup of noodles is the benchmark you need to try in order to see if you can handle some of the more intensely spicy instant noodles out there. The spicy Korean noodle craze was ignited by these noodles, which makes them an instant classic in my opinion. If you’re searching for information about these noodles, you’ve probably seen The Try Guys on YouTube or a plethora of other creators challenge their taste buds with these noodles. If you’re thinking about trying the challenge for yourself or with your friends and family, here is my review of these insanely popular instant noodles.
Flavor:
I wish I could say there was some resemblance of chicken flavor within these noodles, but this is definitely not true. The name, Hot Chicken Flavored Ramen, is quite the stretch. There is nothing “chicken-like” you can find in the flavor of these noodles. I was also prepared to taste the sesame or the dried laver of the flakes, but I couldn’t taste that either. Once the spicy liquid sauce hits your tongue, you can say goodbye to your taste buds! You’ll only have a fraction of a second to taste any other flavor in these noodles before you’re shutdown for good.
However, the flavor is probably not the reason why you’re eating these noodles in the first place. It’s more about overcoming the challenge of finishing something so spicy than it is about the flavor with this cup of noodles. While not the tastiest cup of noodles in wide-world of ramen, enjoying the challenge of eating these noodles with friends and family is worth every fiery bite.
Spiciness:
This isn’t the first time that I’ve tried Samyang’s Buldalk Bokkeum Myeon. I thought I knew what I was getting myself into, but I must have somehow forgotten. Without even being some of the more challenging Hot Chicken Flavored Ramen in the series, these instant noodles are more than spicy enough.
These noodles are spicy…
You probably already knew this, but allow me to jog your memory once again (just like I needed). The unnatural spiciness that these noodles have will burn your lips and mouth, while heating up your stomach. You’re most likely going to feel this spice not only in the moment, but the next day as well. The spice builds as you eat them. It’s an unrelenting spice that coats your mouth and doesn’t go away until long after you finish this cup of noodles.
Let me leave you with a little story about just how hot these noodles are…
I was eating this ramen and writing down my thoughts for the review late last night. My wife wanted to have some watermelon, because this is the end of the season and it might be our last chance for a decent one. So, I cut up some watermelon and stuck one of the chopsticks that I used to eat the ramen in the watermelon for her to reuse. There was no sauce remaining on the chopstick by the way. She placed a piece of watermelon in her mouth and was instantly ignited by whatever molecules of the spicy liquid sauce were remaining on it. As she was smoldering, she asked, “Why is this watermelon making my mouth burn!?” This goes to show just how spicy these noodles can be!
Smell:
These noodles only smell like hellfire. They don’t really have an identifiable odor. Everything that you should be able to sense is cloaked by the fiery sauce.
Noodles:
The noodles are in almost every way, your basic ramen noodles. The noodles are thin and taste just as you would expect. The texture of these noodles varies from other ramen though. The texture is soft and velvety when compared to others. The noodles don’t really hold up so well and are a just a bit too mushy for my liking. I’m not exactly sure of the rationale behind this choice, but these noodles might have been intentionally designed to have this texture by Samyang.
Overall Impression:
You shouldn’t be eating these noodles for the flavor, but to follow along with the spicy Korean ramen challenges that content creators have been doing all over the internet. Coming in at 4,404 SHU (Scoville Heat Units), these noodles are a great starting point to challenge yourself with how much spiciness you can handle. You can definitely go much hotter with offerings from Samyang and several other ramen companies these days. If you’re looking for flavor, I recommend skipping this one and trying the Carbonara or Cheese flavored Hot Chicken Flavored Ramen. At least they taste like something!
So, who’s going to join you on your Hot Chicken Flavored Ramen Challenge? Do you think you can handle any of the other fiery products by Samyang? Let me know in the comments.
Are you craving more Buldalk? Here is my list of other Hot Chicken Flavored Noodles by Samyang.
If you’re interested in hearing more about instant ramen, check out my on-going series, Noodle Story: An Exploration of Korean Instant Noodles, here on Medium.
Note: This article may contain affiliate links that support the author’s ramen purchases for these how-to guides and reviews.
