Buldak Thai Crab Curry Review: I Ate 2000+ Thai Meals and Made ONE Stupid Mistake
Why I Had to Buy Two Cups of This Ramen
Hey, I'm back again.
So if you've been to any Korean convenience store lately, you know the Buldak section is absolutely STACKED. Carbonara, cheese, jjajang—tried them all. But then I spotted something new. Poo Pad Pong Curry flavor. As someone who's eaten Thai food over 2000 times... yeah, I needed to know what Samyang was thinking with this combo. Apparently this dropped in China back in October 2024 as a limited edition and sold out immediately. This is Samyang's first new domestic Buldak flavor in TWO YEARS—so they clearly think they've got something here. But honestly? Buldak plus Thai curry? I was skeptical. The whole spicy fire noodle thing with creamy coconut curry... does that even work? Only one way to find out. Grabbed it at the convenience store for ₩2,200 (~$1.50 USD / £1.20 GBP). Let's get into it.
Quick context: Poo Pad Pong Curry is basically THE Thai crab dish. "Poo" (ปู) means crab, "Pad" (ผัด) means stir-fried, and "Pong Curry" refers to curry powder. It's made with coconut milk and egg, super creamy and rich—one of those dishes everyone tells you to try in Bangkok. So mixing THAT with Buldak? Interesting choice, Samyang.
Package First Impressions
I drained the water. Like, immediately. Just... autopilot brain kicked in and I poured it all out. The lid literally says "DO NOT DRAIN THE WATER" but did I read that? Nope. Noticed it after the damage was done. So yeah, first cup = wasted. Had to buy another one. Embarrassing but whatever, here we are. Anyway—the package has this gold base with Hochi (the mascot) wearing a little crab hat, which is cute I guess. It says "Thai-style curry Buldak with rich coconut milk flavor." 105g, 460 calories. You're supposed to microwave it for 3 minutes. And seriously—DO NOT drain the water. I am living proof of what happens when you do.
Ingredients and Allergy Info
Looking at the ingredients: 6.3% Poo Pad Pong Curry seasoning, 3.2% coconut milk, 0.3% chicken. You'll also see chicken curry base, coconut cream powder, habanero seasoning—the usual suspects. Sodium is 1,010mg, which is actually pretty reasonable for instant noodles. Heads up on allergens though: contains egg, milk, soy, wheat, shrimp, crab, pork, and chicken. So if you're Muslim, this one's not halal due to the pork and chicken content. Hindu friends should be fine since there's no beef.
Nutrition Facts and Calories
Here's the breakdown: 105g serving, 460 calories. Sodium at 1,010mg is 51% of daily value—not great but honestly not terrible for cup noodles. Carbs are 70g, fat is 16g, protein is 9g. The saturated fat is kinda high at 7g (47% DV), probably because of the coconut milk. If you're watching your diet, the carbs might be a lot for one meal. Gym bros might want to add an egg or some chicken breast to bump up that protein.
Sodium Comparison
There's a sodium comparison indicator on the package. 1,010mg puts it below the fried noodle average of 1,140mg, sitting in the 3-4 range. Remember that Chongqing noodle I reviewed before? That was 3,264mg. This is literally one-third of that. For a soup-based ramen, this is actually pretty mild. Still not LOW, so drink plenty of water.
How to Cook It (Please Read This)
The instructions are right there. Step 1: open lid, remove sauce packets. Step 2: add boiling water, microwave 3 minutes. Step 3: add sauces, mix well. Did I read any of this the first time? No. My muscle memory just went: pour water, wait, DRAIN water, add sauce. That's how every other cup noodle works, right? Well NOT THIS ONE. My body betrayed me before my brain could catch up. Learn from my mistakes please.
The Drain Hole Trap
THIS is what got me. See that dotted triangle line on the lid? On regular cup noodles, you poke that with a chopstick and drain out the water. It's literally designed for draining. But this product? You're supposed to KEEP the water to make the soup base. I followed my instincts and immediately regretted it. If you're used to the drain-style Buldak, you WILL fall for this.
What's Inside
Inside you get: one block of fried noodles, one red liquid sauce packet, one gold powder packet. The red sauce looks identical to regular Buldak sauce—probably the same stuff. The gold powder is the Poo Pad Pong Curry magic. No veggie flakes or anything though, which is kinda disappointing.
Sauce Packets Close-Up
Gold packet = curry powder, does the Poo Pad Pong thing. Red packet = the classic Buldak fire sauce. Normally with soup noodles you'd add these at the start, but the instructions say add them after cooking. But since I accidentally made this the drain-style way... I'll just show you how THAT turned out. Not the official method, just my chaotic version.
Cooking Process (My Accidental Version)
Okay so I committed to the review anyway. Pouring hot water from the dispenser here. If you only have cold water, just add that and microwave for about 5 minutes instead of 3. Quick tip for anyone visiting Korea: convenience stores here let you eat inside for free. Hot water dispenser? Free. Microwave? Free. You just pay for the ramen. A lot of countries charge extra for seating or don't allow eating in-store at all—Korea doesn't do that. Just clean up after yourself.
And here's where I messed up. That triangular dotted line? Poked it with my chopstick like I always do. Tilted the cup. Watched all my soup base disappear down the drain. The regret was instant. DO NOT BE LIKE ME.
Adding the Sauces
Well, already drained it so might as well finish. Dumped both packets in—orange curry powder and that dark red Buldak sauce. Time to mix and pray.
After mixing, it looked like this. The noodles got this orange coating all over them. Since I drained the water, the sauce is WAY more concentrated than it should be. The curry smell hit immediately, with that familiar Buldak heat underneath.
Lifted some noodles up for a better look. Sauce is clinging nicely, noodle thickness is standard Buldak. Still has that chewy texture. The orange color is giving "this might actually hurt" vibes.
Taste Verdict
Alright, real talk from someone who's eaten Poo Pad Pong Curry more times than I can count in Thailand.
After eating... the curry aroma lingers. Not super strong, more like a subtle background note. It's not the REAL Poo Pad Pong Curry experience, but you get the vibe. Honestly though, I think this would've been better as a proper soup noodle. The curry flavor probably needed that broth to really shine. My bad for draining it.
The noodle smell is surprisingly intense. Pretty impressive that they kept the sodium this low while packing in this much flavor—feels like Samyang is paying attention to the whole health-conscious trend that's been picking up in Korea lately.
Spice level is milder than original Buldak. Original is around 4,404 SHU on the Scoville scale. This one feels more like Carbonara Buldak territory—maybe 2,700-3,000 SHU. Still spicy though. Koreans would probably call this "manageable," but if you're not used to spicy food, you might still struggle.
Taste-wise... I think I still prefer original Buldak. But also, I literally didn't make this correctly, so maybe that's not fair. Planning to try it again without draining the water. The coconut milk and Buldak spice combo IS interesting though—definitely something different.
I'd call this "Thai-inspired" rather than actual Thai food. If you're expecting authentic Poo Pad Pong Curry flavor, adjust those expectations. But for ₩2,200 (~$1.50 USD) from a convenience store? Not bad at all. A real Poo Pad Pong Curry in Bangkok will easily run you ₩10,000+ (~$7+ USD).
This has been your reviewer who's eaten 2000+ Thai meals.
That's my Buldak Poo Pad Pong Curry review. Made some mistakes, learned some lessons. Next time I'll actually read the instructions and give you a proper take. See you then.
This article was originally published at https://hi-jsb.blog