Hot Chicken Flavor Ramen


Hot Chicken Flavor Ramen or buldak-bokkeum-myeon, literally fire chicken stir-fried noodles, is a brand of ramyeon produced by Samyang Food in South Korea since April 2012. The large cup ramyeon debuted in June 2012, and a smaller cup was released in November 2013. In March 2014, the company reached more than 100 million cumulative sales. In 2015, the brand attained monthly sales of 6 to 7 billion won. Buldak-bokkeum-myeon is considered one of the spiciest ramyeon available in the Korean market, with the original packet having 4,404 SHUs. Unlike most ramyeons that have a powdered-soup bag, SamYang ramyeons contain a sauce bag, and a flakes bag of dried laver and sesame seeds.
Buldak-bokkeum-myeon became famous due to the Fire Noodle Challenge, a viral challenge where people film themselves attempting to complete a bowl of buldak-bokkeum-myeon. In November 2016, Samyang Food obtained a halal certificate for buldak-bokkeum-myeon from the Korea Muslim Federation Halal Committee.

Types

There are many variations of buldak-bokkeum-myeon.
English nameRomajaWeight
Calories
SHUShelf life
Launch DateNote
Hot Chicken Flavor RamenBuldak-bokkeum-myeon1405304,4046, 2012
Hot Chicken Flavor Ramen 2x SpicyHaek-buldak-bokkeum-myeon1405458,8086, 2016
Hot Chicken Flavor Ramen CheeseChijeu-buldak-bokkeum-myeon1405502,3236, 2016
Hot Chicken Flavor Ramen IceKul-buldak-bokkeum-myeon1356004,4046, 2016
Hot Chicken Flavor Ramen StewTang-buldak-bokkeum-myeon1455404,7056, 2016
Hot Chicken Flavor Ramen CurryKeori-buldak-bokkeum-myeon1405553,8106, 2016
Hot Chicken Flavor Ramen MalaMara-buldak-bokkeum-myeon1355202,7006, 2017
Hot Chicken Flavor Ramen CarbonaraCarbonara-buldak-bokkeum-myeon1305502,6006, 2017
Hot Chicken Flavor Ramen JjajangJjajang-buldak-bokkeum-myeon1405601,9206, 2018
Hot Chicken Flavor Ramen 2x Spicy MiniHaek-buldak-bokkeum-myeon-mini9335312,0004, 2018

Hot Chicken Flavor Ramen

Hot Chicken Flavor Ramen, or buldak-bokkeum-myeon in Korean language is the original product of Hot Chicken Flavor Ramen, which was launched in April, 2012.

Hot Chicken Flavor Ramen 2x Spicy

Hot Chicken Flavor Ramen 2x Spicy, or haek-buldak-bokkeum-myeon in Korean is a limited edition version of the Hot Chicken Flavor Ramen celebrating the beginning of 2017 as the year of the Fire-Rooster in the Sexagenary cycle, and it is measured to be 8,706 SHU. It released in January 2016. In December 2018, a mini version of “Hot Chicken Flavor Ramen 2x Spicy” was released for a limited time. It is measured to be 12,000 SHU.
The haek in the name, roughly translates to "nuclear". In Korea, the word "haek" is slang for "really", "extreme", or "very". It is also presumed to be the spiciest instant noodle in the whole world.

Hot Chicken Flavor Ramen Cheese

Hot Chicken Flavor Ramen Cheese, or chijeu-buldak-bokkeum-myeon in Korean language is a version of Hot Chicken Flavor Ramen with cheese powder, released in March, 2016.

Hot Chicken Flavor Ramen Ice

Hot Chicken Flavor Ramen Ice, or kul-buldak-bokkeum-myeon in Korean language is an annual limited edition of Hot Chicken Flavor Ramen sold only in the summer season, which is launched in February, 2017.

Hot Chicken Flavor Ramen Stew

Hot Chicken Flavor Ramen Stew, or tang-buldak-bokkeum-myeon in Korean language is a soup version of Hot Chicken Flavor Ramen, released in August, 2016.

Hot Chicken Flavor Ramen Curry

Hot Chicken Flavor Ramen Curry, or keori-buldak-bokkeum-myeon in Korean language combines the flavor of Korean style curry with Hot Chicken Flavor Ramen. It released in May, 2017.

Hot Chicken Flavor Ramen Mala

Hot Chicken Flavor Ramen Mala as unofficial name, or mara-buldak-bokkeum-myeon in Korean language is a version of Hot Chicken Flavor Ramen with mala powder in Sichuan, China. It released in October, 2017.

Hot Chicken Flavor Ramen Carbonara

Hot Chicken Flavor Ramen Carbonara, or carbonara-buldak-bokkeum-myeon in Korean language is a version of Hot Chicken Flavor Ramen with carbonara which is Italian pasta. It released in December, 2017.

Hot Chicken Flavor Ramen Jjajang

Hot Chicken Flavor Ramen Jjajang, or jjajang-buldak-bokkeum-myeon in Korean language is version of Hot Chicken Flavor Ramen with jjajang. It released in March, 2018.

Surge in popularity

The popularity of the noodles worldwide surged when The Fire Noodle Challenge went viral on YouTube. The challenge was first started by the YouTube Channel "Korean Englishman" in 2014, in which Josh Carrott, the main host of the channel, challenged his friends in the UK to see who could finish the noodles the fastest without drinking any water or beverage to cool the heat down. The popularity of the video led to other YouTubers all around the world to do the same challenge and therefore cause a surge in the noodle's popularity.

Mascot

The mascot of the Hot Chicken Flavor Ramen series is a chicken named "Hochi".