What's The Spiciest Instant Ramen On The Market?
Beloved by broke college students and fans of convenient noodle dishes alike, instant ramen is one of the many minor miracles of modernity: Add hot water to a cup of noodle mixture, stir it, let it sit, and you've got a perfectly serviceable meal on the cheap. But, at some point, you'll probably get a little tired of the typical range of flavors (would you like savory beef, savory pork, or savory chicken?) and seek something new. Something hot. But how hot can you go? Well, it depends on whether you're looking to spice up your life a little bit, or if you want something that'll make you regret being born with taste buds.
The spiciest instant ramen on the market is Culley's World's Hottest Ramen Noodles 2.0, a product from the aptly named Puckerbutt Pepper Company owned by the legendary chili grower "Smokin'" Ed Currie. Flavored with a chili mash consisting of Naga Jolokia and the Carolina Reaper, these noodles will almost certainly be too hot for you, a person whose tongue presumably isn't made of fiberglass, to comfortably eat. Coming in at 1,041,000 Scoville units, it's about as hot as biting down on a raw ghost pepper, and will probably be best suited for dares and online challenges.
Not too far behind is Buldak Chicken 2x Spicy Noodles, which are so hot that they were briefly banned in Denmark. Although the packaging says they come in at 8,808 Scoville — around the heat of a jalapeño pepper — spice aficionados put it at closer to 260,000 Scoville, or about as spicy as a Scotch bonnet pepper. Perhaps emboldened by the noodles' use in challenges, Buldak released a 3x spicy version.
There are more mild spicy ramen options to choose from, as well
If you're a true spice fiend, those noodles might be enough to satisfy you and your disregard for human life. But not everyone wants to experience mortal terror while eating a bowl of ramen. For those who just want to introduce a little heat to their mealtimes, there are plenty of options. Offerings from Nongshim Shin Ramyun (Spicy Beef Ramen Soup), Ottogi Jin (Spicy Ramen Soup), and Sapporo Ichiban (Hot and Spicy Chicken) will all provide a pleasant kick without prompting you to write out your last will and testament.
And, if you're perfectly comfortable with your ramen heat level, you can still improve your noodle-eating experience and upgrade your instant ramen by learning how to put together your own bowl, or by turning your noodles into a ramen noodle salad (one of the rare Midwestern salads that is actually a salad). Still, though, it couldn't hurt to walk on the wild side a little bit, could it?