Korean Fire Noodle Challenge: How to Cook Buldak Bokkeum Myun

Being a spicy food lover, enthusiast, advocate and worshiper, I was itching to try the Samyang Buldak Bokkeum Myun (불닭볶음면) instant noodles, or more popularly called Korean Fire Noodles.

How spicy is it that there’s a Korean Fire Noodle Challenge, just seeing who can handle the heat? I was thinking of joining in the fun, but I realized soon enough (thankfully) that I am no vlogger. I hate speaking to the camera and I am far from photogenic. Let’s leave that to the Youtube stars.

But still, the spicy lover in me couldn’t resist it. So I trooped to my favorite Korean mart (Rada Mart!) and bought a packet of the buldak bokkeum myun.

Though my cooking skills are limited to frying hotdogs and boiling instant noodles, I’m still delusional to think that I am fit to write a cooking guide.

How to Cook Samyang Korean Fire Noodles

1. Boil 2 to 3 cups of water.
2. Put the noodles on the boiling water for 3 minutes, or until the noodles fit your taste.
3. Once the noodles are cooked, pour out the water. Leave 3-4 teaspoons of water on the pot.
4. Pour the red packet of seasoning on the still cooking noodles. It can be extremely spicy, so be careful!
5. Stir, stir, stir!
6. Once cooked, place it on a plate and sprinkle it with dried seaweed and sesame seed, which was in the other packet.

So I chickened out a bit and didn’t put the entire seasoning in. Also, Korean instant noodles tend to be too round and chewy for my taste, so cooking the noodles all depends on your taste.

Prepare a gallon of water, two cartons of milk, and 5 pieces of banana at the ready. Happy eating!

So, was it spicy? Yes, it’s extremely spicy.

It was a slow burn, though. It didn’t instantly burn my tongue, but when it finally did, I was scrambling for water. Okay, it’s an exaggeration. It’s the spiciest instant noodles I’ve ever tasted, but it felt like something was missing.

It was spicy and a little sweet, but I want my noodles salty. That sounds incredibly unhealthy. Eating kimchi alongside it greatly helped, though, not just with the spiciness but it added a much needed texture and taste.

Will I have it again? Yes, but only if I’d share it with someone. Also, if there’s a lot of kimchi available.

Where to buy buldak bokkeum myun in the Philippines? If you do want to torture yourself, you can find this instant noodles available locally. It’s quite easy to find Buldak Bokkeum Myun in the country, because pretty much every Korean mart I’ve visited carries it. I bought mine at Rada Mart at Legaspi Village in Makati. There’s a cup noodle version of this, too.

Buldak Bokkeum Myun is only ranked third in The Ramen Rater’s list of the spiciest instant noodles ever. So now, I’m on a quest to try everything on that list.