Korean food · CU diaries

I Made a Korean Convenience Store Combo With Buldak Ramen

And yes, it's still insanely spicy.

So lunch today was whatever was closest, which meant CU. There's one right under my building, and most days I don't even think about what I'm getting — I just go in and grab stuff. Today it was Buldak Ramen, because I hadn't had it in a while and honestly just wanted something spicy.

Quick thing I want to say first, though, as someone who grew up eating this stuff: Buldak is spicy. Like, actually spicy.

I like spicy food a lot, and I still end up with my mouth kind of numb by the time I've stirred in the whole sauce packet. No idea why I keep going back for more. It's not just heat — there's something sweet and a little salty under it that makes you want another bite even while your mouth is on fire.

삼양 불닭볶음면 컵라면 뚜껑, Hot Chicken Flavor Ramen이라고 적혀있음 — The cup version — same fire, less cleanup.

If it's your first time with this stuff, you really don't need to dump the entire sauce in. Go half first, see how you feel, add more if you're brave.

Anyway. Here's what I actually did today, which ended up being better than just eating the ramen plain.

The CU Combo

CU (and pretty much any Korean convenience store) is less "buy one thing" and more "grab three or four things and mash them into a meal." I do this a lot, mostly because I'm lazy and it's cheaper than actually cooking.

Today's grab was:

Buldak Ramen
A tuna mayo triangle kimbap
One string cheese
A sausage — the grilled kind on a stick, kind of like a Korean hot dog on a skewer

불닭볶음면, 참치마요 삼각김밥, 소시지, 스트링치즈를 나무 테이블 위에 나란히 놓은 사진 — Today's lineup: four things, one meal.

I cooked the ramen like normal, drained the water, mixed in the sauce. Then I just tore open the kimbap and stirred it straight into the noodles — the seaweed wrapper and all, once you peel the plastic off. Cut up the sausage, threw that in too, and put the string cheese on top.

Then into the microwave in a container, just until the cheese melts. Stir it all together once it's melted and that's it, you're eating.

치즈가 녹아 불닭볶음면, 소시지와 섞인 완성된 그릇 사진 — The final result — messy, but worth it.

The rice and mayo actually calm the spice down a decent amount, which I didn't expect the first time I tried this. And with the sausage and cheese in there it's a lot more filling than "just ramen" — I was not hungry an hour later, which almost never happens with instant noodles alone.

I don't really have an official name for this, I just kind of started calling it my "CU set menu" in my head, which is a little dramatic for something that costs like 5,000 won total, but whatever.

There's no real recipe to follow here. Add more cheese, use whatever else you picked up. If you want, you can throw in an egg, too. That's kind of the whole point of doing this at a convenience store — you're just working with what's in front of you.

One more time, because it matters: Buldak Ramen is spicy. Really spicy.

So if you're trying it for the first time, keep water nearby. Milk works even better if you've got it.