Noodle Journey Episode 139: Daebak Ghost Pepper Spicy Chicken Flavor Noodles

Daebak Ghost Pepper Spicy Chicken Flavor is one of those infamous social media challenge noodles, and it kicks off my 2024 reviews. The cup even includes hashtag instructions for filming yourself eating it, underscoring how much of a gimmick this product is. My goal here isn’t to chase clout but to find out if this is actually worth eating outside of the challenge setting.

I picked this up for under $3, and it should be available in some Asian grocery stores and also online. Daebak is a South Korean brand formed by Mamee and Shinsegae, though these noodles are manufactured in Malaysia. Other varieties in the lineup include Ghost Pepper Cheese, Carolina Reaper Chicken, and Habanero Chicken, none of which I’ve been able to find locally. Sodium here is surprisingly low at 946mg. Inside the cup you get a plastic fork, a sauce packet, and jet-black noodles colored with vegetable concentrate and cocoa powder strictly for intimidation effect – there’s no squid ink involved even though it might look like it at first glance. The fried noodles are wheat-based with potato and tapioca starch. The sauce is made with sugar, garlic powder, chili powder, ghost pepper powder, soy powder, sesame oil, and MSG.

When stirred together, the sauce gave off a smoky pepper aroma so strong it burned my nose before I even took a bite.

Noodles:
Medium thickness, good chew, and they held up well to steeping without going mushy. No odd flavor from the cocoa powder.
• 8/10

Spiciness:
This is brutally hot. Worse than Buldak 2x and absolutely the spiciest thing I’ve eaten outside of that line. Actually, it’s probably the spiciest thing I’ve ever eaten, Buldak or otherwise. It burned my mouth, lips, and throat in an entirely unpleasant way. For scale, I rated Buldak 2x at 9/10, and this comes in even higher. It might be comparable to Buldak 3x, but I haven’t had that one to confirm.
• 9.5/10

Overall:
Once you push past the heat and that initial smoky pepper note, there isn’t much to the flavor. Beyond salt and a faint touch of soy, I found no real depth, even with the presence of garlic powder. The ghost pepper itself isn’t particularly flavorful to my tastebuds compared to peppers like habanero or Carolina reaper, which have fruity qualities that balance their heat. Here it’s just relentless burn with very little nuance. The result is a gimmick product designed more for spectacle than eating pleasure. The noodles themselves are solid, but the sauce is one-dimensional and forgettable. If you want to film yourself writhing in pain, this will get the job done. If you want something genuinely spicy and flavorful, you’re much better off with Buldak. I won’t be finishing this cup, and I won’t buy it again.
• 3.5/10

Notes since filming:

This is currently the hottest thing I’ve ever eaten in any form. If the flavor of the sauce was better, I’d be buying this in bulk to enhance my spice tolerance.