Yakisoba Buldak Noodles Honest Review | Spice Level and Taste Test

Last time I was at the instant noodles section picking up some 4-cheese Buldak, there was actually another one that caught my eye. Right next to it was this 'Yakisoba Buldak' with Japanese packaging that really stood out. This legendary noodle was supposedly a must-buy item for Japan travelers, then got reverse-imported back to Korea due to popular demand. Seeing it in person, I just couldn't walk past it.

So I sneakily added it to my cart along with the 4-cheese one. The combination of savory yakisoba and fiery buldak - I was super curious about what kind of synergy they'd create, so I had to cook it up right away. Let me share my honest review with you.

Japanese-Style Package Design

The package is full of Japanese vibes right from the start. The Buldak mascot Hochi is dressed in Japanese festival clothes and even wearing sunglasses - pretty hip look. There's a phrase that says "spicy and savory deep flavor," and I honestly couldn't imagine how yakisoba's signature salty-sweet sauce would mix with Buldak's heat. From the cooking example photo, it looks pretty thick and rich, so let's see if it can win over my taste buds.

Convenient Water Drainage System

There's a triangle-shaped marking on the lid for draining water. If you've eaten instant noodles for a while, you know that stir-fried noodle types have had this chopstick-poking water drainage system for the past few years. Gone are the days of nervously trying to drain water while barely opening the lid, worried about noodles spilling everywhere. It might seem like a small thing, but being able to cleanly drain just the water without sacrificing a single noodle strand is really convenient. I seriously used to lose like 30-40% of my noodles to the sink back in the old days.

Nutrition Facts and Sodium Content Check

These days, Korean instant noodles always have these charts on the side. As more consumers care about health, the food industry has made it a must to display sodium content for easy comparison. If you browse any supermarket aisle, pretty much every instant noodle has this marking now.

This product has 1260mg of sodium, which puts it at level 4 out of 8 total levels. The average for non-soup fried noodles is 1140mg, so this is slightly higher. I guess they needed some sodium to get that signature salty-savory yakisoba umami, so folks watching their salt intake should keep this in mind.

Simple Cooking Instructions

On the side, Hochi guides you through the cooking process. It's super simple. Open the lid, take out the liquid sauce, pour boiling water, and wait 4 minutes. Then poke holes in the lid to drain all the water, add the sauce, and mix it up. Last time with the 4-cheese Buldak, it was microwave cooking so no water draining, but this follows the classic stir-fried noodle method. It specifically says to "drain all the water" - if you leave water in, the sauce flavor gets watered down, so you gotta be bold and drain it completely.

Ingredient Check for Global Readers

Looking carefully at the ingredients, it contains eggs, soybeans, wheat, tomatoes, chicken, and beef. The important point here is that while there's no pork, it does contain beef.

Since Hi-JSB blog gets translated into various languages for readers worldwide, I wanted to highlight this for folks who need to check ingredients for religious or cultural reasons. Hindu readers who don't eat beef should avoid this, while those who avoid pork might find it helpful to know there's no pork in the ingredient list.

Simple Contents

Opening the lid reveals a very simple setup. Just noodles and one liquid sauce packet. Usually specialty series like Carbonara or Cheese Buldak have separate powder packets you need to mix, but this one goes all-in with just the liquid sauce. The key thing is this isn't the original Buldak sauce - it's specially made for 'Yakisoba Buldak.' They've packed both yakisoba flavor and Buldak heat into this one packet, which is actually nice and clean without having to mess around with powders.

1. Adding Boiling Water

I got hot water from the dispenser and poured it generously up to the line inside the container. Now I cover it well and wait 4 minutes with anticipation for the noodles to cook properly.

2. Draining Water (Important Tip)

After 4 minutes when the noodles are properly cooked, it's time to drain the water. Here's an important tip - don't gently poke the triangle marking on the lid with chopsticks. Go bold and make it nice and big. If you make tiny holes like the instructions show, the water drains so slowly it'll take forever. When you're hungry and watching water trickle out drop by drop, it's torture. Make it big enough so noodles won't escape but water can flow out freely - much better for your sanity.

3. Right After Adding Sauce

After draining all the water and just adding the sauce. Honestly, the visual is pretty plain, right? Can barely see any chunks, guess that's the limit of cup noodle quality.

4. Mixed and Ready

After mixing everything up, the red Buldak color is nowhere to be seen - just brown. Looking at the color alone, it doesn't look spicy at all, which could easily fool you.

5. Noodle Texture and Gloss

Lifting up a good chopstick-full of noodles, you can see the yakisoba sauce has coated every strand really well. The glossy shine flowing off them shows the sauce coating power is legit. It looks like regular soy sauce noodles on the surface, but I'm half nervous, half excited to see if Buldak's signature heat is hiding in there. Time for that first bite.

Yakisoba Buldak Taste Evaluation

Tasting it, you can definitely tell they tried to match authentic Japanese style. They really nailed yakisoba's characteristic sweet and salty flavor profile.

But there was something that kept making me tilt my head while eating. I kept thinking "Is this really Buldak?" because I could barely feel any spiciness. When you think Buldak series, there should be that basic heat that hits your mouth hard, but this one is really mild. I think they balanced it for mainstream appeal so Japanese consumers who aren't used to spicy food can enjoy it comfortably.

It completely shattered my assumption that "Buldak is always spicy." But honestly, the most disappointing thing was the lack of "unique character." It's not that it tastes bad, but it felt pretty similar to other yakisoba cup noodles you'd commonly find at Japanese convenience stores. I wish there was more of that distinctive Buldak brand kick to set it apart.

Final Verdict

Overall, Yakisoba Buldak focused more on bringing out yakisoba's natural sweet-salty charm rather than intense heat. For folks who've been hesitant to try Buldak because of its notorious spiciness, this would actually be an excellent entry point. On the flip side, if you're like me expecting that stress-relieving intense heat, you might find it a bit bland. In that case, I'd recommend adding some mayo for richness or sprinkling some chili powder to amp it up.

When you're craving something different, it's charming enough as a specialty treat. I still have plenty of other noodles from my shopping haul to try, so stay tuned for what I'll bring you next.