Buldak Chips Have Been Spotted in the U.S.

If you’ve been on or around the internet over the past ten-ish years, then you have experienced the excitement, joy, and acute physical pain that is the spicy noodle challenge. You’ve probably also seen Buldak associated with said challenge, and while, yes, the Korean noodle brand does have some flavors that are spicy enough to make your tongue and your back end both scream for mercy about 12 hours apart (lookin’ at you Buldak 2x Spicy), they also have some flavors that are spicy, yes, but also absolutely delicious. That said, Buldak doesn’t just do noodles. For a while, they’ve sold various flavors of Topokki (rice cakes), dumplings, fried rice, glass noodles, and hot sauces (and apparently protein puffs as of last fall?!), all based on their various noodle flavors. But a new Buldak product has been spotted at H Mart, and y’all? This is not a drill. We now have Buldak chips, and we here at Sporked could not be more stoked.

Where can we get Buldak chips? How spicy are they on a scale of sriracha to ghost pepper-scotch bonnet sandwich? Will Buldak chips single-handedly heal the United States with fire and MSG?

Okay, so it would seem Buldak chips have actually existed for a while, but it is only in the last week or so that people have been finding them on shelves at American H Marts with the packaging in English. It would seem they have not translated every flavor of Buldak Ramen to chip form just yet—so far it looks like they’re offering Original Spicy Chicken flavor, Habanero Lime, and Quattro Cheese.

According to a few different taste testers out there, the consensus seems to be that the Quattro Cheese Buldak potato chips are spicier than Hot Cheetos, but less spicy than the noodles themselves. Habanero Lime is, reportedly, quite lime-y but less spicy than Hot Cheetos. And people who’ve tried Original Spicy Chicken Buldak chips before this week—when they were only available in Asia—have said that the flavor is pretty accurate but the spice level is not quite as high.

Since we don’t know if that version is the same as the new version being spotted at American H Mart locations and not many people have tried the chips with English packaging, we can’t be sure what these will be like. That said, they are potato chips, so the chances of them being terrible are pretty slim. They appear to be available at a bunch of H Mart locations across the U.S., so it seems like that’s a good place to look if you, like us, absolutely must try these things right ASAP now.

As for whether I think these spicy chips can heal the United States with fire and MSG? Yes, yes I do. Shower the world in spicy noodles and chips because nothing screams world peace like universal happy mouths and burning buttholes.