Over 5,000 Instant Ramen Noodle Reviews Since 2002
It’s been a long time since I reviewed a Buldak variety, that’s for sure! I have tried the curry before, but it’s been a very, very long time. The packaging is new, and I’m guessing the recipe is slightly different as well. Below you can see everything about this including my review, a video of cooking it, and then of course, a mukbang. This is the version for export to the United States. Let’s give it a go – hope I can handle it!
Yep – I’m at it again. Who hates pizza? Maybe if you only ate crummy pizza every day for months, sure – that guy would. But I don’t make crummy pizzas, I make interesting ones that are really quite nice to behold and chew on. Today’s pair are no different. I’m using the noodles and sauce as a base for two ‘south of the border’ inspired new varieties from Samyang Foods. Thanks go to Samyang Foods for sending samples as well as MH from the Ramen Junkies group for sending some too! Let’s check out what happens when new Buldak meets pizza!
Well, I’m sure you’ve been curious (or didn’t know) about this one. This is another variety with Hochi wearing some ‘south of the border’ attire. I decided to rush this one out and I’ll be doing the other one tomorrow I think. So much interest in there varieties. This is something different – not the cooking instructions – I’m curious if this is going to be the standard for all of the buldak varieties going forward. Till will tell. I’d like to thank MH, a fellow mod from the Ramen Junkies group for sending this along! Note – this one is made in South Korea and packaged for sale in the United States. Don’t forget to check out the cooking show and the mukbang below! Rushing this one due to popular interest! Let’s give it a go!
Here’s something I bet you didn’t know about! Two new varieties joining the popular Buldak range! Big thanks to MH for sending these along! Well, have a look – people are having trouble finding them, but I’m guessing if you look really hard you will.
Well folks, it’s been a hot summer’s day here in Gallagher’s Corners… Oh wait scratch that. I’m in Kenmore, Washington… Regardless, it hit 94 degrees today and we live in an apartment with an air conditioner, but at 11pm it’s still 80 degrees. Nasty.
One thing I’ve noticed – spicy is in. This list tends to be the most popular on my website The Ramen Rater every single day. People just want to get all the spicy they can get. Why is that? Spicy is intense. Spicy compliments flavor. Spicy will knock you on your butt. The challenge and chase for the endorphin rush that ultra spicy things give people is extremely tempting for many. These are the spiciest varieties I’ve had the opportunity to sample as of my 3,950th review. Ready to burn? Let’s get to The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Spiciest Instant Noodles Of All Time 2022 Edition.
Here’s one that came via Exotic Noods – check ’em out and use coupon code THERAMENRATER for a discount!
I left it up to the wise folks in the Ramen Junkie group on facebook (you should really join if you haven’t) and of two choices they picked this for me to make into bread. It didn’t go as planned, but it was addictive and tasty and so here it is in all of it’s glorious ingloriousness.
Yeah, after the last attempt at making bread out of South Korean instant noodles, I needed to explore further. Today, I’m going to infuse a loaf with a block of instant noodles, a can of corn, and chicken, and a wallop of sesame seeds! One thing to note – in the video I mention the dates this one will release on YouTube – I made a mistake. It’ll release on September 20th, and it will also release on December 24th – I thought it would on September 23rd. So, that was a mistake. Let’s take a trip down Corn Lane!
Last year, I was way behind schedule on everything. This year however, it’s going to be the opposite. Last week, I kind of decided to go nuts on Top Ten Lists. I did more than one. I did up SEVEN OF THEM! So that should make 2021 a little better for everyone. I’m calling to all South Korean noodle companies – send me your stuff! I have been hoping to review more stuff from South Korea but it seems to be harder to come by – at least newer varieties as of late. Drop me a line! This list is current as of review #3,702. let’s check out The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten South Korean Instant Noodles Of All Time 2021 Edition.
A little while back, Samyang Foods produced a variety called Buldak Mini. It was a smaller noodle block, however it clocked in at 12,000 SHU. Since people like to go big or go home, they came out with this – Challenge Buldak. This time it’s a full size noodle block, and it is served cold. Again, this one comes in at 12,000 SHU. They even have a hashtag mentioning this challenge attribute. I decided to give it a go and in the video below, you’ll see I conquered in in just over 3 minutes. Let’s give this one a look!
Well, here’s the first of a whole slew of new Buldak varieties. If you’ve never seen or heard about this range (you’ve probably been under a rock), just know these are probably the most popular spicy range of products around when it comes to noodles. They came out with a Christmas themes variety – meat spaghetti. I’m wondering if this one will be similar? Let’s find out.
Well, well, well. Here we are yet again. Just not hot enough for you, eh? Well, maybe this will do it for you. I mean look – Hochi (the Buldak mascot) is right there, tears streaming, breathing fire… 3x Spicy – so what it 1x spicy? Well, 4,400 SHU (scoville heat units). 3x would be 13,200 SHU – I guess we’ll have to see if that’s spicy. I know it will be. Time to burn!
Thought I’d share a bunch of recent videos where I slurp up super spicy noodles! Usually by now, I’ve posted the new top ten spicy varieties list m but due to years of pushing by readers and a drought of spare time, the list is going to post later – probably in October. In the meantime, I’m doing a lot of research – what’s the spiciest out there being the question. Check ’em out and don’t forget to subscribe and click the notification bell to stay updated on all the videos I post constantly. Thanks!
There’s a guy who goes by The Fat Hipster on YouTube I’ve been friends with for awhile now. He does videos where he samples all sorts of different foods – from fast food to spicy noodles and more. Look him up on YouTube! Here’s some extras he was kind enough to send over!
First off, let me say that I did a mukbang with this one an it’s at the bottom. Definitely the spiciest one I’ve done in quite some time.
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Despite all the tumultuous and unnerving events of our current age,, I am happy to announce that I’ve got a new list for our year, 2020. In the past fe hundred reviews I’ve done this past year there have been some real standouts and of course many have remained. These are my absolute favorites of reviews 1 through 3487. It’s hard – I feel like I should be doing a top 20, or even a top 50 at this point, but the sheer amount of time that would take with being a stay at home father of two while trying to get in a few hours of exercise every day just isn’t in the cards. I’m hoping in the coming months to come out with the regular top tens and maybe some new ones, but it’s a tough juggle these days.
Well, Merry Christmas! Hochi has her Santa hat on for this one. Meat spaghetti, huh? Sounds interesting. Christmas is over, but they must have had some leftovers – got these last week and thought hey – maybe some burning would do me good. Let’s give this new variety a try!
Look! A new spicy one from Samyang of South Korea! Meat spaghetti with a Christmastime motif. Check it out!
Special thanks go out to Normalgorl for shooting this over! Much obliged! So what the heck is this? Corn?! I’m thoroughly fascinated. Let’s check it out!
Here we have the latest in the long line of Buldak varieties from Samyang Foods. This is Buldak Light – so let me explain. This one has only 375 calories. The noodles are not fried, so all that oil used in frying isn’t present. But not only is it lighter on calories, it’s lighter on heat. It’s 40% less spicy than original Buldak Bokkeummyun clocking in at 2,600SHU compared to the original’s 4,400SHU.
I thought today would be a fun day to include Miles in on an episode of Instant Noodle Recipe Time (see below). I figured hey – he’ll leave the stove alone… Well, he did which was good and it was nice having a co-host! Job well done, Miles!
Two days in a row of varieties with long names! This one does NOT include noodles, however it’s topokki. What’s that? Wikipedia, if you please –
No, this is NOT noodles. But it’s a tie in that’s for sure. These are little surimi (fish) sausages to enjoy as a snack, flavored like Buldak Bokkeummyun. I’ve seen these all over recently in different ways – some packs call them ‘Kid’s Bong’ and they come in a variety of flavors. These sounded interesting! Couldn’t resist. Let’s take a look!
Okay, alright. It’s another Buldak spicy thing and this time its not topokki and ramen, it’s just topokki. What’s exciting about this is that this is the export version. I’m usually not happy about getting export versions; I want the local versions; te ones that people in their respective countries find at the store. But what’s cool is that this is now available in the United States – and I’ve seen it here recently. This is original Buldak Bokkeummyun flavor – there’s also a Carbo version as well. For those of you who are asking ‘what’s a topokki?!’ here’s a little info from Wikipedia –
This is a new one – a smaller Buldak Bokkeummyun! However it packs a big punch. This one’s clocking in at 12,000SHU, the highest heat level to date in the range. This is to celebrate the 7th anniversary of Buldak Bokkeummyun – happy birthday! What’s cool too is that the character Hochi’s birthday is the same as my wife’s! I thought hey – I should put this out on her birthday! Let’s give it a try.
So a happy birthday is in order for Samyang’s Buldak Bokeummyun range. They started 7 years ago with the first variety. What’s more, the birthday of their mascot Hochi is on April 13th – same as my wife’s! Pretty rad. So Let’s unbox this one and we’ll have a look at it up close and personal on Saturday!
It’s that time of year again! Actually, this is the first time the list is coming out in July although at the tail end of July. I usually have the lists come out on the Monday closest to the date it came out the prior year. So this list is a compilation of absolutely hottest and spiciest varieties I’ve had out of the 2,500+ varieties I’ve tried thus far. Something you think belongs on this spiciest of lists? Let me know – I’ll give it a try. Let’s get started!
Well lookie here – another one from Colin – thanks again! This one’s a cheesy version of the ever popular Samyang Foods Buldak Bokkeummyun. This is what people use to do the famous ‘fire noodle challenge’ – although this is the cheesy version. This stuff is hot – real hot. The Ramen Rater’s top Ten Spiciest Instant Noodle Of All Time list kinda hot. Let’s take a look.
Wait a second – this looks familiar. So there are two versions of the Samyang Foods Buldak Bokkummyun cheese flavor bowls. Indeed there are two versions of the packs as well. Here’s the orange version I reviewed – #2291. What’s the difference? I’m going to guess that they came out with the black one first and people mistook it for the regular version and were annoyed. Kind of makes sense since the black one definitely looks like the standard Buldak Bokkummyun bowl. Well, except for the chicken with the cheese. Here’s what Wikipedia has to say about the original variety:
I got an email a few weeks back asking if I’d tried the new 2x Spicy Buldak Bokkeummyun. I hadn’t and really wanted to. The email was sent by Anders and his girlfriend Ji-Min who live in South Korea and were kind enough to send some varieties along! Let’s see what’s inside!
Okay so most of your should be familiar with the popular ‘fiore noodle’ challenge. That’s where you take a bowl of Samyang Foods Buldak Bokkummyun (spicy fried chicken flavor) instrant noodles and scarf ‘e,m down in one sitting really quick. If you don’t know about this, just go to YouTube and type in fire noodle challenge – you’ll get a ton of videos. Nobody’s ever challenged me to do this; kind of bummed. Anyways, this is a new variety – I think there will be three of these spin offs, but right now we have cheese. Let’s see is the cheese chills this fiery noodle out or if it still has the burn of burns.
Every year, I review a ton of instant noodles – and every year I come out with quite a few lists. This list tends to change the least of all my lists – I’ve had a lot of spicy instant noodles in my time and just seems like nobody’s getting any spicier products to market. Could be that they don’t want to melt people’s faces off perhaps. Anyways, here’s this year’s list – the spiciest varieties out of over 2,100 reviews. Enjoy – if you dare!
As many might know, I started The Ramen Rater (click to see the old site) in 2002 and did about 60 reviews. Then, I turned my attention to spicy hot sauces with The Sauce Rater. In 2010, I resumed my instant noodle reviewing. I’ve long been a fan of the spicy side of things – strong heat and good flavor are a couple of my favorite things. Let’s have a look at the absolutely hottest varieties I’ve found in my over 1,700 reviews of instant noodles from around the world in this year’s The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Spiciest Instant Noodles Of All Time 2015 Edition.
If you like it hot, you’re in for a real treat here. These are the spiciest instant noodles you can get that I’ve reviewed from my 1,446 reviews thus far. If you can’t handle spicy foods, these definitely aren’t for you – these are serious! Many of these were so hot, I couldn’t finish the bowl – and I can handle a decent amount of heat! I used to review hot sauces! Anyways, Hope everyone is having a great summer and here are the spiciest instant noodles of all time for 2014!
Samyang Foods’ Buldak Bokkummyeon. I’ve had the pack form and did up a recipe a while back involving a way to cool the heat. This is the bowl – and a fiery bowl at that. This stuff doesn’t mess around; there’s no broth. The noodles have a violently hot coating that really means business! It’s so hot that people challenge each other to devour a bowl as fast as they can on YouTube all the time! Let’s open up this bowl and see how fiery this one is!
