Noodle Journey Episode 30: Samyang Buldak Jjajang Ramen

Samyang returns to the spotlight in this review with their spicy twist on a Korean favorite: Buldak Jjajang. For those unfamiliar, jjajang is a Korean adaptation of Chinese black bean sauce, which is a thick, earthy, and slightly sweet sauce that I’ve only recently started exploring. My first exposure was through Nongshim’s Chapagetti, but this version promises a much more intense experience thanks to Samyang’s trademark Buldak heat.

One thing that stands out is the relatively reasonable sodium content at 1420mg. This version blends the black bean sauce directly into the Buldak base rather than using a separate packet, and it’s also loaded with cheese and milk products, surprisingly. It skips the typical curry spices from other Buldak entries, and the flake packet is pretty robust, containing carrots, cabbage, green peas, onions, and textured soy protein.

Noodles:
These are the standard square Buldak noodles, with that signature chew and thickness that can hold up to a powerful sauce. While I personally prefer the slightly different texture of the carbonara variety, these still deliver a great bite.

• 8/10

Spiciness:
As with all Buldak products, this brings the heat. It’s spicier than the carbonara version but falls short of the regular and 2x varieties. It’s not for the faint of heart, but totally manageable if you’re already used to Buldak’s heat levels in other packs.

• 7.5/10

Overall:
I’ve said before that jjajang is an earthy, onion-forward sauce that I’ve really come to enjoy, and this version builds on that nicely. The flavor is bolder and a bit saltier than Nongshim’s take, and the vegetables rehydrated nicely, especially the cabbage. The textured soy protein adds a slightly beefy experience without any actual meat, keeping it vegetarian-friendly. While the cheese and milk don’t show up in the flavor, they seem to thicken the sauce in a satisfying way. If you like black bean sauce and can handle some heat, this is an excellent marriage of the two. I’m now officially a jjajang fan and eager to try more.

• 8/10

Notes since filming: This is possibly discontinued, although many people have reported finding it long after it was reportedly removed from production. If you’re looking for a spicy jjajang noodle and found this one to be lacking in flavor, check out Samyang’s Hot Pepper Jjajang instead. I really enjoyed this one at the time, but the Hot Pepper one beats it by quite a bit. There’s also a Chinese black bean Buldak flavor out there in a dark green pack that the Internet is calling “Buldak Fried Jjajang.” Once I review that one, I’ll be able to see how it compares to this one.