The kitty characters, Salt and Pepper, genuinely created something special with this cup of noodles. Another addition in the Hot Pepper Series, Samyang’s Hot Pepper Jjajang is a spicy, sweet, and savory charcoal grilled masterpiece. It features the potent, but natural spiciness of Cheongyang Gochu (Korean Green Chili Peppers) and a unique jjajang flavor with a dash of seafood. Am I changing my favorite bowl of jjajang once again? All signs point to yes. So, let me break it down for you as we take a deep-dive into these tasty noodles.
Flavor:
A delicious and spicy, sweet jjajang flavor with a touch of charcoal grilled flavoring. If I only had one sentence to describe this cup of noodles, that would probably be it. This cup of noodles is truly delicious. The flavor is actually quite complicated with a lot going on.
Probably the most important part to get correct was the jjajang flavor. This cup has the most complex jjajang flavor that I’ve ever tasted. It has notes of seafood, charcoal, green chili peppers, and a sweet jjajang flavor. The charcoal grilled taste is strong, but the green chili pepper flavor is stronger yet. It does skew the balance a bit, but I didn’t find the flavor off-putting at all. These two primary flavors work well together to provide an intense jjajang flavor that sets this cup of ramen apart from the competition.
Spiciness:
What I really like about this series is that the spiciness is natural and not a chemically enhanced or “roided out” spiciness that is unnatural like you would find in the Buldalk Series (Hot Chicken Flavored Ramen). This series uses Cheongyang gochu, which is a chili pepper from the Cheongyang region of South Korea that is many times spicier than other green chilis.
The spiciness in Samyang’s Hot Pepper Jjajang is close to perfect. Again, it doesn’t taste artificial. The spiciness enhances the overall flavor and leaves just a bit of tingle in your mouth afterwards. The taste of green chilis might not be for everyone, but if you like the flavor of green, I’m sure you’ll enjoy this level of heat.
Smell:
When compared to Samyang’s Hot Pepper Jjamppong, this cup of noodles has a much more pronounced green chili pepper fragrance. It’s a spicy and biting smell that overpowers most of the other ingredients in this cup of jjajang. The only smell that actually stood out other than the green chilis was the smell of a barbecued or charcoal grilled jjajang. The balance isn’t quite perfect. The Cheongyang gochu take center stage in this one.
Noodles:
Visually, the noodles in this cup look like your average instant ramen noodles. The size and thickness resemble them at least. It might just be me, but the noodles do seem possibly on the thinner-side of the noodle spectrum. The noodles weren’t too chewy and seemed a bit more dense than normal.
Overall:
Samyang Hot Pepper Jjajang has a satisfying barbecued jjajang flavor that is hot, but certainly tasty. The natural spiciness is a joy to taste, which is unlike most spicy ramen products that are competing to destroy your taste buds forever. I would even say this cup of noodles is even better than the jjamppong in the Hot Pepper Series by Samyang. This just might be my new favorite instant jjajangmyeon on the market.
What do you think about the barbecued jjajang flavor of these noodles? Have you ever tried a Cheongyang Gochu before? Let me know in the comments!
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.
