For all you instant ramen and ramyeon fans, we are always spoilt for choices when it comes to the instant noodles department. There are always brand new choices and varieties from almost all over the world, with a plethora of different tastes to satisfy each and every different tastebuds and choices out there. But after a while, the choices start to make you go "Meh.. not enough to spice things up"

Well, I can understand that to a certain degree. My choices in instant noodles fluctuate throughout the years, from insisting on being loyal to one particular brand and type to finally trying everything on the market. Life is too short to stick to just one variety, might as well just go forth on an adventure with instant noodles. At least at the end of the day, one can proudly say "I have conquered everything single brand of instant noodles from Year 199X to Year 2xxx".

Today, I am going to revisit my experience with Samyang Foods Cheese Buldak Bokkeummyeon although my first taste of Samyang Foods ramyeon actually started with the Spicy Chicken Roasted Noodles. My late mother was curious about the latest instant noodle craze couple of years back where everyone was trying the spiciest instant noodle ever to graced this planet. Found it at NTUC, bought it, tried it and almost remodeled the toilet due to explosive erm... pooping 😅

Anyway, here's a little look at this Samyang Foods Cheese Buldak Bokkeummyeon that I am going to show~

The packet ramyeon itself comes with 2 condiments, mainly the sauce (left) and the cheese powder (right). For those of you who have tried the original Spicy Chicken Roasted Noodles, I won't go into the details about the sauce since first timers will probably have a bad stomache from trying it for the first time until youcdecide to tackle it again the next day. It looks unassuming until you literally eat it with the cooked instant ramyeon. Whereas the powder cheese is a brand new thing to me. I'm not really a cheese person, so I am fine with this amount of cheese powder due to being lactose intolerant.

Cook the instant ramyeon according to the instructions on the pacakaging. For me, I cook it like regular instant noodles but I skipped the part where the instructions stated to transfer the cooked ramyeon to a skillet and stir-fry it with the sauce. I simply transfer mine to a serving bowl, drizzle just enough of the sauce to coat the ramyeon thoroughly before sprinkling the cheese powder on top.

Seriously, I found out that if you were to empty the entire satchet of sauce in, the explosive stomache issue is going to happen. But if you were to just add enough sauce, it's not that bad. Honestly, never trust American folks when it comes to taste-testing food of any type since they go all out and just make food taste bad. (Think adding ridiculous amount of wasabi in shoyu and killing the delicate taste of the nigiri sushi, that's what I am talking about...) Follow the Asian folks, we know exactly the type of shit we are doing to make food enjoyable 😎 I mean... I love my white friends equally as I love my African-American counterparts, but one does not make food taste sloppy and yucky, food is sacred!! 😤

7 Instant Noodle Facts

• Buldak Bokkeum Myeon is known for being one of the spiciest ramyeon available in the Korean market and gained popularity due to the Fire Noodle Challenge, a viral challenge where people film themselves attempting to complete eating 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. This means that our Muslim friends can also join in the spice-fest Samyang Foods have to offer. Yay~
• Back in the old days, instant noodles was considered a luxury item which only the rich are able to afford as it was 6 times the cost of fresh udon noodles.
• Instant noodles were invented by Taiwanese-Japanese inventor Momofuku Ando (born Go Pek-Hok) of Nissin Foods in Japan. They were launched in 1958 under the brand name Chikin Ramen. In 1971, Nissin introduced Cup Noodles, the first cup noodle product. Instant noodles are marketed worldwide under many brand names.
• You can find instant noodles in almost every corner of the globe, familiar brands may have different packaging or even difference in tastes to suit the demands and tastebuds of different people. But you will still be able to find a brand you are familiar with most of the time.
• Cheese Buldak Bokkeummyeon has a Scoville Heat unit of 2323, that's roughly half the amount of spiciness in their original Spicy Chicken Roasted Noodles but the heat is deadly for those with low tolerance for spicy food or weak/ill stomachs.
• Studies show that cultures that eat the most spicy food have much lower incidence of heart attack and stroke. Potential reasons: Chili peppers can reduce the damaging effects of LDL (bad cholesterol) and capsaicin may fight inflammation, which has been flagged as a risk factor for heart issues. So, go ahead and pile on that chilli, but only what you can handle.

Note: All facts are gathered from the Internet, I do not claim ownership to any of them.

The lowdown

Time for the taste reveal!

Personally, I found that the taste, especially the spiciness level is almost exactly the same as the original one I have tried. There's nothing different about the spicy level as claimed by so many folks out there. I am personally not so sure about the chicken flavour since it is so spicy that all I can taste is spicy instead of chicken AND spicy although I can assure you that I didn't get a bad stomache from eating this on a nightly basis. But I did need a big glass of cold water at the end to calm my tongue down.

The spiciness literally starts out as mellow in your mouth and the first 2 to 3 bites was so-so. Until the spiciness slowly explodes all at once in your mouth, after that, it's a matter of trying to keep calm and finish the remaining noodles like a normal sane person or chew the ramyeon once and swallowed the remaining unchewed parts 😂

The heat brought forth by the spicy sauce is literally the lingering type that slowly dissipates over time until you didn't even realize the spiciness aftertaste has long disappeared from inside your mouth. If you thought accidentally swallowing a teaspoon amount of wasabi is already bad, this spiciness is like the maniacal and diabolical younger sibling masqueraded as a normal chiili-sauce that goes "I'm just a normal instant noodle sauce 🤓"

All in all, I have no regrets when it comes to trying out more instant ramyeon by Samyang Foods, on the contrary, I shall demand them to make more tongue-numbing creations to sate my curious tongue. Yep! #NoRgrets

The rating

Price: 7.5/10 - Depending on where you can buy it. The supermarket (NTUC) in my neighborhood sells it at S$5.95 for a pack of 5 but the Korean import mini mart at my workplace sells the same exact pack of 5 for S$6.90 instead and both shops are found inside the same mall..

Spiciness: 10/10 - Although more than what my chilli-abused tongue can handle, the spiciness and heatness is really kickass, in my opinion. Samyang Foods promised, and deliver they did 😉

Taste: 7.5/10 - To be honest, I just didn't taste the chicken but since I did managed to taste the cheese powder, it's still quite okay.

Shiok-ness: 11/10 - Spicy as F*** but I'm not complaining and I kept eating it on a nightly basis 😂

Overall Rating: 9.5/10 - What more can I ask for when it comes to spicy and heaty instant noodles. The regular brand I used to eat that is from Nissin just doesn't compare to the heat-freeze my brain gets every night 😳