You may have heard about a popular ramen called Buldak that comes in different flavors.
What is Buldak?
Buldak, or fire chicken, is a heavily spiced, barbecued chicken dish. The literal meaning of the name is “fire chicken,” where bul means “fire” and dak translates to “chicken.”
It is considered one of the spiciest instant noodles available in the Korean market, with the original packet having 4,404 Scoville units, about the same as a hot jalapeno pepper. Scoville units measure of how spicy something could be.
Buldak became popular in South Korea during 2004, primarily for its extreme pungency (a sharp smell or taste), as the country’s long-term recession and economic downturn caused the local population to seek out spicy food to relieve stress.
The rise in popularity of buldak set the trend for extremely hot dishes in South Korea, which led to the rise of Buldak franchise restaurants. Some Buldak restaraunts in Koreatown include Yup Dduk LA and Sun Nong Dan.
Buldak flavors
Buldak has eleven different varieties of ramen. The flavors are: Samyang Buldak Ramen Hot Chicken, 2x Hot Chicken, Carbo Hot Chicken, Hot Chicken Cheese, Cream Carbonara, Elote Corn Hot Chicken, Jjajang Hot Chicken, Habanero Lime Hot Chicken, and Kimchi Hot Chicken.
Buldak ingredients
The ingredients used to make the ramen are wheat flour, food starch-modified, palm oil, salt, glycerin, soybean oil, guar gum, water, potassium carbonate, and riboflavin (color).
Buldak Sauces
Buldak also has sauces like Carbonara Hot Chicken, Hot Chicken, and Extreme Spicy Chicken.
We interviewed some students and this is what they said.
Victoria Meza: “It’s yum yum! I like it especially because of the texture of the noodles, which just adds to the amazing taste.”
Jaylynn Aparicio: “Buldak noodles are a really good meal. I even got my mom to try them and she told me that she liked them so now whenever we are running out we always restock on them.”
Kevin Barcenas: “I like the habanero pepper ones, and they are purple. The packs are purple. I like them also because they put the ingredients separately.”
