Part Of The Ramen Rater’s Definitive Guide To Samyang Foods’ Buldak Bokkeummyun
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2X Spicy HOT Chicken Flavor Ramen / 핵불닭볶음면 / Hack/Haek Buldak Bokkueummyun / Launch 2016.1 / SHU 8,808
Alright. Today’s the day. I heard about the double spicy Buldak Bokkeummyun a couple of months ago. After hoping to simply find it at the store with no luck, I received a few of these packs – first, I got one from Anders from South Korea which is a reader who’s sent varieties in the past – thank you! Since I wanted to try these as soon as possible, I (for the first time) ordered some from an eBay seller called 1theKorea – they’ve got all sorts of neat South Korean varieties, and lots of the spicy ones that aren’t the easiest to find or are unavailable in the USA. I also got a ton of varieties from Samyang Foods – including the bowl versions of this one and the Stew as well as a couple snack variants.
The original version is hot. Extremely hot. It’s in third place on my annual Top Ten Spiciest Instant Noodles Of All Time for the past 2 or 3 years now. If this is truly as hot as it purports to be, it’ll be number one. I’ve been told about it’s voracious heat and seen videos of people who have tried it. I’m proud to say I’ll be joined by my son Andy – he’s eleven years old and has agreed to try a decent bite of the stuff. I’ll do a video of this event that you can see at the bottom. Indeed, the hour is nigh and we now try Haek Buldak Bokkeummyun.
Samyang Foods Haek Buldak Bokkeummyun – South Korea
Here’s the back of the package (click to enlarge). Looks to be meat free but check for yourself. To prepare, Cook the noodles in 600ml boiling water for 5 minutes. Drain, saving a 120ml of the liquid. Add in liquid sachet and return to the stove and stir. Let sizzle for 30 second. Add garnish. Finally, stir and enjoy!
The noodle block.
The liquid base sachet.
The fire! So when I opened the sachet and poured the liquid into this little soju cup, I got a little on my fingers. Tasting it was a look at things to come. My lips burnt for about a half an hour! Indeed, I ran to wash my hands! Can’t have that kind of fire on my fingers – rubbing an eye is one thing, but we have a 2 month old and an 18 month old here – not looking for more meltdowns!
The garnish sachet.
The garnish appears to consist of sesame seeds and bits of seaweed.
Finished (click to enlarge). Alright so here we go. The noodles are just awesome – thick and chewy – super thick ramyun with a nice mouthfeel. Now, the flavor speaking of the feeling in my mouth… FIRE! I mean really this is seriously painful stuff. It is not something to give a person who can’t handle heat (although I was quite impressed my 11 year old Andy was able to cope with it although it took a few tortilla chips and 3 peanut butter cups to put out the fire). My take one the experience is that anyone could eat as much of it as they wanted; as long as they don’t stop. You are greeted warmly (no pun intended) by a nice sweet kind of flavor at the outset. If you continue to scarf down the noodles, it continues this way. Until you stop. Once you stop, the fire begins. The heat builds to a crescendo I can only liken to putting one’s tongue on a hot stove. Truly this is the hottest I’ve had yet. Haek Buldak Bokkeummyun, you win! 4.0 out of 5.0 stars. EAN bar code 8801073113435.
Samyang Hek Buldak Extra Spicy Roasted Chicken Ramen Nuclear Edition 5 Pack
My son Andy and I try the 2x Spicy HaekBuldak Bokkeummyun!
These actually burn all the way down.
OK i agree… these are really spicy. Even for me. But they are so addcting that i finish the whole bowl every time. I love them with cheese and cream, and with fresh chicken . Cheese and cream helps to control the spice level.
This is the spiciest instant ramen that I ever had. It was so spicy but I suggest you eat this as dry noodle or add some slice of cheese on the soup which is what a lot Korean do when eating spicy ramen. The noodle texture is great and definite a must for any spicy lover.
I felt the same way the first time, but then the more packs I ate, the more I acclimated. By the time I got through a six pack, it seemed like I was eating the original and not the 2x! They’re gonna have to come out with a 3x or 4x because the 2x just isn’t that crazy anymore! I hope Hans takes acclimation into account when compiling his top ten spicy list. There’s probably a defined refractory period when one’s taste buds reset.
Holy hell balls… the insides of my ears were sweating. My kids and I love love the stuff. It’s so hot, but the taste is great. I added bean sprouts, oyster mushrooms, green onions and cilantro with some chicken and made it a meal. I hope it’s not really a limited edition… it makes for one exciting meal!
Omfg the x2 fire noodles are crazy hot.
This is a must. I gave someone a bowl of the original, they came back saying they weren’t hot at all. It turns out they didn’t drain the water. He tried it again and agreed that they are spicy!
This was the first thing I’ve ever eaten that actually made my eyes water. I was in pain but they were delicious!
Albuquerque here – we big on hot green Chile. Sorry that sounds ridiculous ’cause of my whiteness. BUT, I got a pack of these noodles at 999 on Gibson, and these are nice and hot 4real. If you’ve ever eaten at Thai Tip (best Thai in Abq) these would be a solid Thai hot on their scale. The heat is intense and I like that so will buy a case BUT, the flavor is simplistic – I added nothing on the first try to give it a fair shot, but next time I will add some onion or fried garlic, maybe even a dash of rice vinegar to fight with the sweet of the soup base on this one…love it but needs extras.
Bryan – You mentioned soup base – did you make this with broth? It’s supposed to be served dry – cook noodles, drain, save around 120ml liquid and put back in, add liquid base and returnt o heat and stir fry for 30 seconds.
– TRR
I think these are really good! Started with buying 3-4 5-packs. Then I got my hand on a box with 8 5-packs. Down to one of those packs now. Rumor has it that it will go out of production this desember. These are also really good combines with meatballs, chilibeans and a variety of vegetables. Could be a little stronger then it is. Guess I have to go back to the normal variety in the black packs now.
Quite honestly the most delicious ramen I have ever had. With my first bowl, I was in tears as I’m only used to El Yucateco hot sauces on my tacos, as well as original buldak bokkeumyun (both in the low-mid 4000SHU range)
But now that I have become able (only just so barely) to eat 2x without tears, I prefer it over the original because whatever pepper is behind buldak spice is doubled-down here and I am totally addicted to that flavor.
Tried a pack of these this evening, the flavor is really good, has a definitive sweet taste then the heat comes. I’ve been in the spicy foods game for a few years now and this has a nice little kick to it, I enjoyed the whole mouth burn, unlike other noodles that mainly have a burn in the back of the throat, this one coated the entire mouth. The noodles were good and lived up to its promise, chewy and easy going, definitely a ramen that lives to its name. 5 stars would definitely eat again. If you cannot handle heat, I’d experience it at least once, this is some seriously good stuff.
I had these maybe a month ago, having already eaten the original Samyang Buldak Bokkeummyun a couple times. The original was not as spicy as I’d expected, given its reputation from many “fire noodle challenge” videos. Very spicy without a doubt, but I didn’t even need water afterwards.
This was different. I needed water afterwards and throughout. The heat really challenged me and my mouth was on fire for a while. One of the hotter things I’ve eaten for sure. It was as delicious as the original, but the heat made it an ordeal to eat, so I think I’ll stick with the original. I’m sure some company will eventually come out with an even hotter instant noodle that I’ll have to try, though.
Tryed those noodle after original version, original was one of th best noodles to me, but this time i had to drink milk to handle it, absolutelly amazing and its really burning down the lips which was quite suprising for me.
If you can handle the heat, they are absolutely wonderful. I actually had this before doing the base fire noodles. This is something that a little bit of milk will help.
Tried the original ones today for the first time and they definitely are different heat wise. If you love spicy and savory, go for these noodles! But be prepared!
I’ve tried this “2X” version tonight, with previous experience of the original version as a reference. At the beginning it was pretty easygoing but like you’ve said, once you stop eating the chili burned like wildfire and, true to its “2X” moniker, it burnt my tongue much longer than the original, in my case it was a good 10 minutes of lasting (but not painful nor agonising) numbing and nagging burning heat. This one I say is the sort of slow but lasting burning stuff than I will never forget. I bought a 5-pack so I still have 4 more to go ^_^; What a trip!