Buldak Ramen[1] (Korean: 불닭볶음면, romanized: buldak-bokkeum-myeon, lit. 'fire chicken stir-fried noodles') is a South Korean brand of instant noodle, produced by Samyang Foods since April 2012.[2] It is Samyang's best-selling product, with 4 billion sales by August 2022.[3] It is considered one of the spiciest instant noodles available in the Korean market, with the original packet having 4,404 Scoville units.[citation needed]
History
Buldak Hot Chicken Flavor Ramen was first launched in April 2012.[2] It was inspired by a spicy chicken stir-fry dish that Kim Jung-soo, a member of Samyang Foods' sales department, observed while eating lunch at a restaurant in 2010. Kim recalled that the dish had the customers "sweating and fanning their tongues, assailed by both pleasure and pain". When Samyang's food scientists created prototypes for the ramen, she repeatedly told them to make it spicier.[4]
The popularity of the noodles worldwide surged when the "Fire Noodle Challenge" went viral on YouTube. The challenge was started by the YouTube channel "Korean Englishman" in 2014, in which the host Josh Carrott challenged his friends in the UK to see who could finish the noodles the fastest without drinking any water or beverage.[5] 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.[6]
Some flavours of noodles were recalled in Denmark in 2024, with the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration stating that a single packet's capsaicin levels are so high that consumers risked "acute poisoning".[7] Later, Denmark authorities reviewed the recall against Samyang Buldak 2x Spicy Hot Chicken and Samyang Buldak Hot Chicken Stew, but maintained the prohibition on Buldak 3x Spicy Hot Chicken.[8]
Foreign imitation products
With its rising popularity and recognition internationally, Chinese and Japanese food companies have begun to roll out products that mimic Buldak ramen to capitalize on this trend.[9]
In 2021, Samyang, in cooperation with the Korea Food Industry Association (KFIA), filed an intellectual property lawsuit against Chinese companies that produce and distribute its imitated products. Later, in March 2023, a Chinese court admitted that Chinese companies had infringed on intellectual property rights by imitating trademarks and designs in a lawsuit filed by four Korean companies, including Samyang, and ordered them to pay reparations.[9]
In April 2023, Nissin Foods, a Japanese food company, sparked controversy in South Korea by launching a Korean-style stir-fried instant ramen with spicy sauce that mimics a packaging design similar to Samyang's Carbonara Buldak ramen. Afterwards, Samyang reviewed a legal case against Nissin, but decided to give up because the chances of winning the case were slim due to the different product names, and decided to focus more on the brand marketing of its products in the future.[10][11]
Spinoffs
Samyang has expanded the Buldak brand beyond instant noodles into other products like Buldak Hot Sauce,[12] Buldak Potato Chips,[13] Buldak Fried Rice, Buldak Tteokbokki,[14] and so on.
Description
An opened, uncooked packet of Buldak Carbonara Ramen
Buldak ramen is considered one of the spiciest brands of instant noodles available in the Korean market, with the original packet having 4,404 Scoville units.[15] It is a type of 'stir-fried' dry noodle: after boiling, the noodles are drained, and mixed with a spicy sauce and a topping. The product became famous due to the Fire Noodle Challenge, a viral social media challenge where people film themselves eating the sauce pack or bowl of noodles.[16][17]
Hot Chicken Flavor Ramen is Samyang Foods' best-selling product.[18] 4 billion cumulative sales were reached in August 2022,[3] and the brand attained monthly sales of 6 to 7 billion won the following year (5.1 to 5.9 million United States dollars).[19] 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 359.3 billion won, followed by a double-digit growth rate in 2017 with a sales of 450 billion won (estimated value).[20] For this reason, Samyang Foods received the '100 Million Dollar Export Tower' at the "54th Trade Day 2017" event.[21]
The mascot of the Hot Chicken Flavor Ramen series is a chicken named "Hochi" (호치).[22]
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.[23]
