Hot n Flavor Ramen or ''buldak-bokkeum-myeon'' ( ko, 불닭볶음면, '' fire chicken stir-fried noodles'') is a South Korean brand of

instant noodle Instant noodles, or instant ramen, is a type of food consisting of noodles sold in a precooked and dried block with flavoring powder and/or seasoning oil. The dried noodle block was originally created by flash frying cooked noodles, and this is ...

, produced by

Samyang Foods Samyang Foods Co., Ltd. is an international South Korean food manufacturer and the first instant ramen company in South Korea. Samyang Food was founded on September 15, 1961 by Jeon Jung Yoon. In 1963, Samyang Food debuted the first Korean insta ...

since April 2012. The large cup ''ramyeon'' debuted in June 2012, and a smaller cup was released in November 2013. It is considered one of the spiciest instant noodles available in the Korean market, with the original packet having 4,404

Scoville units The Scoville scale is a measurement of the pungency (spiciness or "heat") of chili peppers, as recorded in Scoville heat units (SHU), based on the concentration of capsaicinoids, among which capsaicin is the predominant component. The scale i ...

. It is a type of 'stir-fried' dry noodle: after boiling, the noodles are drained, and mixed with a spicy sauce and a topping. ''Buldak-bokkeum-myeon'' became famous due to the Fire Noodle Challenge, a viral social media challenge where people film themselves attempting to complete a packet or bowl of these noodles. Buldak-bokkeum-myeon is Samyang's best-selling product. 100 million cumulative sales were reached in March 2014, and the brand attained monthly sales of 6 to 7 billion won the following year (5.1 to 5.9 million

United States dollar The United States dollar ( symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the officia ...

s). From the second half of 2016, as exports of this product increased, they became the company's best-seller. In 2017, the Buldak range accounted for more than 85% of Samyang Food's total exports and 55% of total sales. In 2016, when “Buldak-bokkeummyeon” began to be sold in earnest, Samyang Foods' sales grew 23.5% to 35.9 billion won, followed by a double-digit growth rate in 2017 with a sales of 450 billion won (estimated value). For this reason, Samyang Foods received the '100 Million Dollar Export Tower' at the '54th Trade Day 2017' event.

Types

Since the release of the original in 2012 and subsequent success, Samyang has released varieties that differ in spice and often flavour from the original to keep up with demand.

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. The noodle is inspired by

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." History ''Buldak'' became popular in South Korea du ...

, a barbecued spicy chicken dish.

Hot Chicken Flavor Ramen 2x Spicy

Hot Chicken Flavor Ramen 2x Spicy, or ''haek-buldak-bokkeum-myeon'' () in Korean is an initially limited edition version of the Hot Chicken Flavor Ramen celebrating the beginning of 2017 as the year of the Fire-Rooster ("Jeongyu" in Korea) in the

Sexagenary cycle The sexagenary cycle, also known as the Stems-and-Branches or ganzhi ( zh, 干支, gānzhī), is a cycle of sixty terms, each corresponding to one year, thus a total of sixty years for one cycle, historically used for recording time in China and t ...

, 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. In Korea, the word "haek" is slang for "really", "extreme", or "very", to compare nuclear bombs

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 August, 2016.

Hot Chicken Flavor Ramen Stew

Hot Chicken Flavor Ramen Stew, or ''buldak-bokkeum-tangmyeon'' () in Korean language is a version of Hot Chicken Flavor Ramen that is served in a soup, 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 A curry is a dish with a sauce seasoned with spices, mainly associated with South Asian cuisine. In southern India, leaves from the curry tree may be included. There are many varieties of curry. The choice of spices for each dish in tradit ...

with Hot Chicken Flavor Ramen. It was released in December, 2016.

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 from

Sichuan Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...

, China. It was 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 Carbonara () is an Italian pasta dish from Rome made with eggs, hard cheese, cured pork and black pepper. The dish arrived at its modern form, with its current name, in the middle of the 20th century. The cheese is usually Pecorino Romano, Par ...

sauce, inspired by the pasta dish

. It was 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 a black bean sauce. It was released in March, 2018.

Surge in popularity

The popularity of the noodles worldwide surged when The Fire Noodle Challenge went viral on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

. The challenge was first started by the YouTube Channel "

Korean Englishman Korean Englishman (영국남자) is a YouTube channel created by internet personality duo Josh Carrott and Ollie Kendal. It features videos in Korean and English centering around South Korean culture and food. Cast Joshua Carrott Joshua Carrott ...

" 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" ().

References

External links

Hot Chicken Flavor Ramen
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Samyang Food Samyang Foods Co., Ltd. is an international South Korean food manufacturer and the first instant ramen company in South Korea. Samyang Food was founded on September 15, 1961 by Jeon Jung Yoon. In 1963, Samyang Food debuted the first Korean insta ...

{{Noodle South Korean brands Instant noodle brands