I totally agree with you! Just ate this. It’s missing the umami bomb of yakisoba and is heavy on a bitter hot pepper extract. I’m a total pepperhead too and think most other Buldaks are spicy but not bitter. I ate mine with Kewpie and think this nonetheless. Great, spot on review.
To be clear, "Extract" is the key word in that, not Habanero. Pepper extract is a thick, oily residue from the peppers that is basically the closest thing you can get to "all natural pepper spray". You can get it as spicy as you want, it just takes more of less spicy peppers since you are basically collecting the capsaicin directly. That's why it's on the bottom of the list, if it wasn't it would be literally inedible. You can just a drop or two of it to make a large pot of food spicy. I personally despise it in products. It tastes "chemically" and "artificial" if it isn't covered up by other flavors and it has none of the actual taste of the pepper, just the burn from it. It's frequently used by companies that want to make a spicy product without paying for peppers or altering the taste, and in my opinion it usually ruins it. It can theoretically be fine if used responsibly, and I might trust Samyang enough to give this a try, but I look instantly askance at any product using pepper extract. Especially hot sauces where the taste of the pepper is the point. Extract is ONLY good at making something way spiceer than it should be with none of the other positives of spice. It's vapid! Sorry for the mini-rant haha, I just don't know why they went for extract in this instead of just peppers, like usual. I guess to keep the flavor of yakisoba sauce without making it taste like pepper sauce?
What’s wild, is to me these were ungodly spicy. Like the spiciest of all the Buldak brand noodles. I’m curious if it has to do with it being habanero extract? I’ll have to add some mayo and try it again. But yeah, the pepper extract just overpowers all the flavor after the first bite.
It truly might be related to habaneros. I didn't find the Yakisoba one that spicy. But I've read a ton of people on Reddit say that they found both Yakisoba and Habanero Lime varieties unexpectedly spicy, and I wonder if it has to do with Samyang sourcing the peppers at different stages of maturity or from different suppliers.
I tried those for my b day last year. I ordered them from amazon. Tbh the mayo wasn’t memorable to me. The package of it was very small and I just don’t remember it having a taste separate from the noodles. (Could just be me tho) I was disappointed in the thin noodles but the flavour was good.
I knew about it from the Ramen Rater's review last year and from someone on Reddit complaining about the lack of mayonnaise in the US. Here's a sample of the Australian pack with mayo included: asianpantry.com.au/products/samyang-buldak-yakisoba-hot-chicken-flavor-ramen-700g
I agree! It's not like there's some kind of import restriction on mayonnaise to the US, considering we can easily buy other Asian mayonnaise products all over. I'm puzzled by it, unless it's purely a cost-cutting measure.
Great review! Keep up the awesome noodle content!
Thanks so much!
Thank you for letting me know! I'll definitely put Kewpie in it if buy it.
I totally agree with you! Just ate this. It’s missing the umami bomb of yakisoba and is heavy on a bitter hot pepper extract. I’m a total pepperhead too and think most other Buldaks are spicy but not bitter. I ate mine with Kewpie and think this nonetheless. Great, spot on review.
To be clear, "Extract" is the key word in that, not Habanero. Pepper extract is a thick, oily residue from the peppers that is basically the closest thing you can get to "all natural pepper spray". You can get it as spicy as you want, it just takes more of less spicy peppers since you are basically collecting the capsaicin directly. That's why it's on the bottom of the list, if it wasn't it would be literally inedible. You can just a drop or two of it to make a large pot of food spicy.
I personally despise it in products. It tastes "chemically" and "artificial" if it isn't covered up by other flavors and it has none of the actual taste of the pepper, just the burn from it. It's frequently used by companies that want to make a spicy product without paying for peppers or altering the taste, and in my opinion it usually ruins it. It can theoretically be fine if used responsibly, and I might trust Samyang enough to give this a try, but I look instantly askance at any product using pepper extract. Especially hot sauces where the taste of the pepper is the point. Extract is ONLY good at making something way spiceer than it should be with none of the other positives of spice. It's vapid!
Sorry for the mini-rant haha, I just don't know why they went for extract in this instead of just peppers, like usual. I guess to keep the flavor of yakisoba sauce without making it taste like pepper sauce?
What’s wild, is to me these were ungodly spicy. Like the spiciest of all the Buldak brand noodles. I’m curious if it has to do with it being habanero extract? I’ll have to add some mayo and try it again. But yeah, the pepper extract just overpowers all the flavor after the first bite.
It truly might be related to habaneros. I didn't find the Yakisoba one that spicy. But I've read a ton of people on Reddit say that they found both Yakisoba and Habanero Lime varieties unexpectedly spicy, and I wonder if it has to do with Samyang sourcing the peppers at different stages of maturity or from different suppliers.
I have the japanese version of it and on the back it says to try adding mayo, the package doesnt include it tho.
I tried those for my b day last year. I ordered them from amazon. Tbh the mayo wasn’t memorable to me. The package of it was very small and I just don’t remember it having a taste separate from the noodles. (Could just be me tho) I was disappointed in the thin noodles but the flavour was good.
Thanks for letting me know! I've been curious since filming this what I was missing out on with the mayonnaise packet.
Australia!? Details please 👍🇦🇺
I knew about it from the Ramen Rater's review last year and from someone on Reddit complaining about the lack of mayonnaise in the US. Here's a sample of the Australian pack with mayo included: asianpantry.com.au/products/samyang-buldak-yakisoba-hot-chicken-flavor-ramen-700g
So weird that they would omit the mayonnaise in the US, the land of mayo.
I agree! It's not like there's some kind of import restriction on mayonnaise to the US, considering we can easily buy other Asian mayonnaise products all over. I'm puzzled by it, unless it's purely a cost-cutting measure.
You haven't been to Japan if you think the US is the land of mayo! It can't even touch the feet of Japan when it comes to mayo use.