I’ve always loved eating instant noodles and spicy food. When Samyang first boomed because of their Nuclear Fire Noodle challenge, they had a permanent spot on my radar.
I thoroughly enjoy Korean ramyun in general, but there’s something about Samyang’s fire noodles that is so painfully addicting. It’s spicy, flavorful, and perfectly chewy. Every bite is tasteful and will definitely bring you to tears if you have low spice tolerance. However, I’ve found that eating it helps me calm down when I’m stressed out.
For years now, I have kept track of new flavors that Samyang brought to the market. It started with a handful of options but has now expanded to more than a dozen choices.
In this blog, we want to share with you our personal experiences—and opinions—of all the Samyang buldak Ramen flavors we’ve tasted. And yes, we’ve tested them all.
The one that started it all—the original fire noodle. It’s basically just noodles plus their buldak death sauce, I mean spicy sauce. You also get a packet of toppings, such as sesame seeds and tiny nori flakes. I prefer to eat this with more nori to give the noodles extra flavor, but actually on its own, it’s not too bad. With chewy noodles and tasty sauce, it’s an excellent starting point for other flavors.
Samyang jjang black beans buldak ( Green packing)
Jjajang Buldak Black hot chicken flavor beans ramen noodles is definitely one of my favorite flavors among Samyang’s fire noodles line. It takes the normal instant jjajang ramen to the next level by adding a good amount of spice and mixing all that with Ramen noodles.
In each pack, you get only one sauce packet—this is the mixture of jjajang and Samyang’s signature spicy sauce. You also get a packet of dried vegetables such as peas and carrots which you boil and mix in to complete the dish.
I absolutely love the rich and complex flavors in this dish. It makes me excited to try authentic jjajang ramen in UAE. In fact, I love it so much that it’s not uncommon for me to eat it for lunch. It goes amazingly well with a sunny side up egg with a runny yolk, or you can eat it with white rice. mm-mm! So good.
Samyang cream carbonara
Samyang hot chicken flavor Cream Carbonara Buldak ramen is another personal favorite of mine, the Samyang Cream Carbonara is the upgraded version of their Carbo Buldak ramen.
If you want to experience a rich and creamy flavor with a little bit of kick, this is perfect for you. It’s definitely not as spicy as the other Samyang variants, perhaps because of the cream component.
Note that their spicy sauce here is different from what you usually get. Samyang’s signature sauce looks very intimidating because of its deep red color. However, with the cream carbo, it’s thinner in consistency and also much lighter in color. If you take a good look at it, the sauce is more orange in hue.
You also get a packet of powdered seasoning where the Carbonara taste comes from. The noodles you get here are also different from the other variants since it’s more think and flat rather than round. This allows the sauce to stick to it more and gives a more pasta-like feel.
Samyang carbonara Chicken Ramen
Carbonara Buldak Ramen like its more advanced counterpart, the Carbo Buldak ramen is the brand’s take on making instant pasta with a twist. Unlike the cream carbo, this variant uses the normal Samyang spicy sauce. You can expect that it has more of a kick the more you eat it.
I like going the extra mile when eating this by adding either chopped bacon or sausage slices. If you want to tone down the spice, you can add milk instead of water when you’re tossing the half-cooked noodles with the sauce. Do this in a pot with the fire still on so the liquid gets reduced.
Samyang meat spaghetti
Meat Spaghetti Buldak Bokkeummyun
The last pasta variant—at least so far—in the Samyang fire noodle line. I find this meat spaghetti really interesting because of the flavor. It’s rich, sour, and salty. I assume they were aiming for an Italian feel, hence the tartness.
Each pack comes with three packets, one is the Samyang secret sauce, the second one is the powdered seasoning that gives the spaghetti taste, and the third is dried meat. What kind of meat? By the life of me, I wouldn’t be able to tell you, but it works in the dish.
You can also some hotdog or sausage slices to make the dish even more interesting. If you want, you can even top it off with shredded cheese.
Kimchi Buldak buldak ramen
I love kimchi, and I love ramyun. It would make a lot of sense that I will also end up liking this Samyang fire noodle flavor. However, after trying it once, I never tried it again. The flavor the brand wanted to create made sense, but in my opinion, the execution was lacking. This ended up being more sour and spicy, and less savory and tasty. It wasn’t much of an enjoyable experience.
Samyang corn buldak
Corn Buldak chicken ramen South Koreans are big on adding corn to different dishes. They even add it to noodles, rice dishes, and often mix it with melted cheese. It’s not a shock that Samyang decided to create a flavor in honor of this trend as well.
The noodles are similar to the ones in carbo and cream carbonara variant, thick and flat. You also have a soup packet and a seasoning packet. The seasoning itself has a very strong corn smell, so before you eat, you tend to have big expectations that the taste would be very corn-y. However, I guess in general corn is a mild flavor. That’s why the strong spice has a tendency to overpower the dish, and the corn offers an aromatic experience rather than taste.
Samyang cheese buldak ramen
Cheese Buldak ramen noodles is one of the first few Samyang fire noodle variants, the cheese buldak is a simple but pleasant change from the plain hot chicken flavor ramen line. The cheese seasoning is in a separate packet, and it’s very cheesy. However, like the corn buldak, there’s also not a huge impact on taste once you mix it all in.
The spice level is still intense, and I recommend adding extra cheese when you’re cooking it with the sauce to level up its cheesiness.
Samyang ice type buldak
Ice-Type Buldak ramen
If you’re looking for food that will take you on a messed up roller coaster ride, then you might want to give this a whirl. Eating the Ice Type Buldak ramen is a novelty since it’s a “cool ramen”.Cold noodles have been enjoyed in South Korea for decades, and it’s supposed to be perfect for warmer days. However, this Samyang variant is pretentious and not really meant to cool anyone off.
You’re supposed to prepare this by immediately blanching it in cold water. However, others went as far as putting it in the fridge or putting ice cubes. I opted for the normal way of doing it, and let me say, this is more painful than the regular fire noodles.
It’s sweet and spicy, but really painful in the mouth and chest. Trying it once for the sake of experience is good, but it’s not something I’ll be craving for.
Samyang mala Chicken Ramen 4x Spicy
Mala Buldak ramen noodles is originally referred to as the x4 fire noodles, the Mala Buldak ramen gained popularity because of the eating challenge.
A lot of people said that it was actually much better than the x2 Nuclear Fire Noodles which only caused pain with no flavor. Unlike this Mala Buldak that focused on the Mala flavor which offers a numbing flavorful spice.
Let me tell you right now, I don’t necessarily agree with those people I mentioned above. Sure, the Nuclear Buldak made me cry, but it never made me thought that I was going to suffer a heart attack.
Dude, this Mala Buldak started with a slow burn. It lulls you into a false sense of security. But once you swallow, the pain spreads out from your mouth to your throat, then your chest. My heart was beating so fast, I was sweating bullets, and I could barely speak. I drank milk, ate ice cream, and I still couldn’t finish one pack. This is the only Samyang ramen that I gave up on since I wanted to live.
Flavor-wise this is amazing, especially because of the five-spice. But it can be traumatizing to some especially if you underestimate its effects.
Samyang buldak light
Buldak Light Chicken Ramen is the light Buldak ramen noodles is basically the basic fire noodle but with 40% less spice. It’s definitely much milder than the other variants, but the decreased spice somehow affected the overall savoriness of the noodles as well.
If you have a lower tolerance for spicy food, you should try this to have an idea of what Samyang fire noodles are all about.
Samyang 2x Extreme spicy fire noodles
Or nuclear Buldak ramen noodles
Ta-da! We’re here to talk about the dreaded x2 Nuclear Fire Noodles—the challenge that took the world by storm. The Samyang variant made grown men cry. And it really does live to expectations. It doesn’t have much flavor except for spiciness.
My first time eating a pack of this, I actually drank more than half a liter of milk. However, nowadays, I see vloggers experimenting with the nuclear buldak. Some wrap it with kimchi for nuclear kimchi rolls, others add cheese, corn, and even pork belly on top for a complete meal.
If anything, it serves as an excellent base for innovative dishes since it has a neutral taste. Neutral yet hell-like spicy.
samyang bibimmyeon
Buldak Bibimmyeon
One of the variants that I really like, the Buldak Bibimmyeon is very different noodle-wise. It’s much thinner and chewier which makes every bite a wonderful experience. It’s also savory and spicy at the same time.
A lot of people actually eat this with a hard-boiled egg to make it more “authentic”. You can do the same, and add a few more slices of nori. I also prefer cooling it down before I eat it, rather than taking it on while it’s still piping hot.
Samyang stew type
If you want to expand the spiciness from the noodles to the soup, you should try Samyang’s hot chicken stew. This varies from their ramen for two major reasons: The first being this has the hellfire spice; and second, this is meant to be enjoyed with a thicker broth, since it’s a stew.
A few tips I have for levelling this up is by adding some spam slices. Thinly sliced vegetables such as cabbages or even scallions, or if you have kimchi, this would be great. You can also eat this with some rice; once you’re done with the noodles, you can mix it in the broth.
