Social media cooks up new flavours for South Korea’s ramyeon

SEOUL – At first glance, it sounds more like a dare than a recipe: Mix the blisteringly spicy stew-type Buldak Artificial Spicy Chicken Flavour ramyeon with a pouch of beef and seaweed soup, boil them together and enjoy.

Yet this unlikely combination – now widely known online as Buldak miyeok tang myeon – has become one of South Korea’s most talked-about food trends, driven not by chefs or brands, but by consumers experimenting in their own kitchens.

The dish combines Buldak ramyeon, known for its intense heat, with the mild, savoury depth of miyeokguk, a traditional seaweed soup commonly associated with birthdays and postpartum meals.

The result, according to those who swear by it, is a broth that feels calmer and more rounded than your usual Buldak. The seaweed absorbs some of the spice while garlic and chilli aromas rise together as the pot boils.

Viewers’ initial reaction is often scepticism. Online comments frequently ask whether the pairing makes sense at all.

But curiosity follows quickly, and many who previously avoided Buldak for being too spicy say the addition of the soup makes it approachable.

Others describe it as a hangover ramyeon, noting that the broth feels cleaner and more restorative than standard instant noodles. The appearance, however, remains a sticking point. Even fans admit the cloudy green-red broth looks worse than it tastes.

The recipe itself is simple and endlessly reposted. A 500g pouch of ready-made beef seaweed soup is brought to a boil with about 100mm of water before adding the noodles and seasoning.

As the trend intensified, demand followed.

In Seoul, stew-type Buldak Artificial Spicy Chicken Flavour ramyeon has become increasingly difficult to find in convenience stores and supermarkets, with bulk purchases appearing online at marked-up prices.

One 35-year-old office worker said the shortage has turned the ramyeon brand into a shared workplace obsession.

“It’s so hard to find that we pooled money at the office and had one person buy it in bulk, then divided it up,” he added. “Once you try it, you understand why it’s popular. Especially for office workers – it’s the ultimate hangover ramyeon, and it’s hard to stop eating it.”

The viral moment gained further momentum after popular mukbang creator Eat with Boki, who has more than 10 million subscribers, uploaded a video of herself eating the dish on Nov 27.

The video has since surpassed 1.6 million views, spawning countless response clips – including videos showing how to make “ramyeon porridge”, by simmering rice in the remaining broth.

What might have remained an internet curiosity has translated into measurable sales. According to convenience store chain CU, sales of the stew-type Buldak Artificial Spicy Chicken Flavour ramyeon rose 116 per cent year-on-year between Dec 1 and 18.

Seaweed-related products gained favour, with sales of packaged seaweed soup up by 47.5 per cent.

The phenomenon reflects a broader “modisumer” trend, in which customers modify existing products through personalised recipes and share them online. For the instant noodle industry, these grassroots ideas often function as real-time test markets.

Manufacturer Samyang Foods, which produces the Buldak line, has embraced consumer-driven experimentation before. Carbo Buldak and Cheese Buldak both originated from user-created recipes before becoming official products.

While the company has said there are no immediate plans to commercialise Buldak miyeok tang myeon, industry observers say sustained popularity could change that calculation.

This is not the first time a viral ramyeon recipe has reshaped demand.

Chef Yoon Nam-no, who gained widespread recognition through Netflix’s Culinary Class Wars, sparked interest with a chilli-forward take on Chapagetti, a brand of instant black-bean noodles, shared during a variety programme which aired in July 2025.

His method, which builds chilli oil with green peppers before adding noodles, reframed a familiar product as something closer to Sichuan-style comfort food.

Another revival came from Yeol Ramyeon, a spicy noodle brand that debuted in the mid-1990s and long maintained a niche following. Its resurgence followed the spread of “soft tofu Yeol ramyeon”, a recipe combining a block of tofu, egg, garlic and black pepper.

The recipe circulated widely online and gained further attention when singer Sung Si-kyung shared his own version.

Sung, known for his influence on food trends through his YouTube channel, added chilli oil, beef, green onions and tofu to the broth. He praised the dish’s appeal.

“Who came up with this ramyeon?” he said in the video. “It’s genuinely charming. The chilli oil is the key. Try it the way I make it.”

Food companies are increasingly paying attention. Nongshim has repeatedly turned viral combinations into retail products, from Chapaguri to Shin Ramyeon Toomba, which was inspired by years of social media recipes blending spicy ramyeon with dairy.

Industry officials say this feedback loop is unlikely to slow. As social media continues to blur the line between home cooking and product development, South Korea’s instant noodles are evolving not in test kitchens, but on phone screens, one bowl at a time. THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK