Today’s review is Samyang Buldak Jjajang Spicy Ramen, but not the one I reviewed a long time ago. There’s no official English name for this product. The internet has been calling it “fried jjajang”, but I’m just going to call it what it actually is for this review: a new recipe of Buldak Jjajang made for the Chinese market.
The Verdict:
| Product: | Samyang Buldak Jjajang Spicy Ramen (Chinese Version) |
| Origin: | South Korea (Export to China) |
| Noodle Quality: | 8/10 |
| Spice Level: | 7/10 |
| Overall Score: | 8/10 |
This one needs a little bit of an explanation. Jjajang, if you’re not familiar, is Korean black bean sauce. It is an earthy, slightly sweet, and very umami flavor that I enjoy, but it is not necessarily everyone’s favorite. If you’ve ever seen Nongshim Chapagetti in the store, that’s like the most basic rendition of instant jjajangmyeon, and it’s also very polarizing if you go on Reddit and read the comments about it.
This particular Buldak Jjajang flavor first came out sometime back in 2023, and the pack I have for this review is intended for sale in China. You will find almost identical packaging available in some other places in Asia, and you can tell if you have the Chinese version by looking for the Chinese characters next to the Samyang logo. This is not the same as Buldak Jjajang, which comes in the light green packaging; this is a different recipe.
There was an announcement last year that the pale green pack version of Buldak Jjajang was being discontinued, but that discontinuation looks to be only in the U.S., because there are a lot of people who are still able to get it. I was actually just having a conversation very recently with one of my viewers who bought it from a seller that had imported it from South Korea. So, the pale green pack is not discontinued – it’s just a little bit harder to find because it’s only available in certain markets, at least from what I can tell. When the discontinuation announcement for that flavor came out last year, a lot of folks assumed that this darker green package was replacing the other Jjajang flavor, and that’s not true. Both Jjajang flavors have coexisted at the same time, but were sold in different markets, and they are different recipes.
Just like its sibling, this is a super spicy Buldak take on black bean sauce, but its execution is a bit different. If you want to buy this for yourself, you may find it in an Asian specialty store that imports it, or you can find it on eBay, or maybe make a friend in Asia who can get it to you if you don’t live in Asia. I actually bought this from an American website not long ago, but that site no longer exists, and I had such a pain in the ass time getting this from them that I wouldn’t have recommended them even if they were still in business. Really, eBay is probably the way to go for this if you can’t find it in a store where you live.
Inside the pack, we’ve got thick Buldak wheat noodles, a liquid Buldak sauce, a powder packet, and a flake packet. The sauce appears to be a very standard Buldak recipe with chicken seasoning, soy sauce, sugar, pepper extract, garlic, and curry powder. The powder packet is where the black bean extract is, plus onion, more chicken seasoning, yeast extract, meat and grill flavorings, and some more chili powder. In the flakes, we’ve got onion, bok choy, and vegetable protein flakes, which are going to look like artificial beef. I can’t say for certain if this is vegetarian or vegan because the translation doesn’t really specify if all that chicken flavoring is artificial or not. It probably is artificial since most export Buldak doesn’t have meat, but don’t take my word for it. I’m not 100% sure. The sodium for this whole pack is 1,708 mg.
To cook this, very similar to other Buldak products, you boil the noodles and the flakes for 5 1/2 minutes. You drain all but 4 tablespoons of water, and then you add the sauce and the powder. So, for all you Buldak purists who think that 4 tablespoons is too watery, that’s what the directions say, and I always follow the directions when I review. You can make Buldak as dry or as wet as you want in the comfort of your own home, but I do only review as instructed, even though I do prefer it less watery if I’m making something like this for myself.
After cooking, the sauce smelled like standard Buldak sauce, at least at first. The Buldak Jjajang in the pale green package has a much more distinct black bean aroma. The powder had a very earthy smell, which is typical of jjajang flavor. I don’t love stir-fry noodles where there’s a powder mix-in, because I always feel like the powder doesn’t really get incorporated or mixed up into the noodles nearly as easily as a sauce does. But between the sauce and the cooking water, there is plenty of liquid there to spread the black bean powder around, and so we do have a real sauce eventually. And yes, it is a little liquidy. Just a little bit.
After everything was mixed up, I got a pretty mild Buldak sauce aroma, which I like. Not too much of a jjajang aroma, surprisingly.
Noodles:
If you’ve had Buldak before, you know what to expect. Thick, chewy noodles. Very satisfying. Nicely cooked after 5 1/2 minutes. If you like really thin noodles, this is not the recipe for you. But I love these.
- 8/10
Spiciness:
On my scale, original Buldak is about an 8 out of 10, and the original pale green Jjajang pack was a 7.5 out of 10 for me 3 1/2 years ago. Which is to say I found it pretty spicy, especially for jjajangmyeon, which is not always a spicy dish. This version of Buldak Jjajang feels a little less spicy than I remember that pale green pack being. Not by much, but just a little. It is still lingering on my tongue quite a bit. There’s a little bit of a lip burn that is typical of Buldak sauce. It is a solid heat.
- 7/10
Overall:
Admittedly, it has been a long time since I had that original pale green Buldak Jjajang flavor. I find this one to have less of a black bean flavor to it, and more of just kind of a general sweet onion thing going on. That’s not to say it’s bad. I actually think it’s pretty good. But it is certainly different than that flavor, and I think those of you who are buying this one expecting it to taste like the old one are not necessarily going to get what you’re expecting. As is typical of Buldak, you do get that sweet, umami, spicy blast in the beginning, but there’s just really nothing earthy about this that kind of points me in the direction of it being jjajang. At best, I can say it is slightly more savory than just original Buldak without that black bean powder. But I do like it. While it may not taste like I expected, and while it may be a pretty big departure from the original pale green Buldak Jjajang, I think it’s still a really nice flavor in its own right.
On top of that, I think the flakes are excellent. The little onion bits give it a very nice tart little bite. The soy protein flakes remind me very much of the ones that are in the now-discontinued Buldak Jjamppong, which I really loved. They have a nice meaty texture without veering off into the direction of a weird flavor like some soy flakes tend to do. And then the leafy little bok choy bits don’t really add much flavor, but they do give a nice additional texture to the whole thing.
I really don’t have much to complain about. I’m going to score this the same as I scored the old Buldak Jjajang. Don’t take that to mean that it is the same – it’s not. It’s different, but it’s good in its own way.
- 8/10
Final Thoughts:
Very enjoyable flavor, and the quality of the flakes really helps with the overall texture of this bowl. Okay, so now the question that arises every time I do a Buldak review, for those of you who are seeking out every single flavor of Buldak that there is: is this worth buying? Especially because it’s a little harder to find depending on where you live. Yes, it’s worth buying, but it’s not such a radical departure from the base Buldak flavor that you really need to go super far out of your way to look for it. That being said, it is very tasty. I love the consistency of the sauce, the quality of the vegetables and the noodles, and that Buldak spice is perfect for my spice tolerance. This is just something I enjoy. Those of you who find the original Buldak flavor to be a little bit chemical might find this to be a little bit tapered down because of that additional black bean powder. From that aspect, maybe this is something that those of you who taste Buldak sauce that way would be interested in trying. Either way, this is one of the better Buldak flavors that I’ve reviewed recently, and I’m really happy I tried it. So, if you happen to spot it where you live and you like Buldak, go for it.
Continuing the Journey
- Nongshim Angry Chapaguri is another spicy black bean noodle option, with a very different Nongshim-style approach.
- Samyang Hot Pepper Jjajang Ramen is another spicy Samyang black bean option, but without the Buldak branding.
- If you want a non-spicy jjajangmen with a much richer sauce, Paldo Jjajangmen is still the gold standard.
