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.