When you hear the words "ramen" and "BTS" uttered in the same sentence, your mind probably goes straight to Jin, not Jungkook. He shares a name with the famous Jin Ramen instant-noodle brand and even became its official ambassador in 2022. But Jin isn't the only member of BTS who knows his way around ramen.
In a post recently shared to K-pop fan app and online community Weverse, Jungkook dropped an original ramen recipe he dubbed "Bulguri," after the two types of ramen he uses to make it: Buldak spicy chicken and Neoguri spicy seafood. Fans can't stop talking about Jungkook's culinary creation, prompting Neoguri's parent company, Nongshim, to jump on, trademarking the name Bulguri.
Though Jungkook's Bulguri ramen calls for combining the contents of two ramen packages, the BTS star has a particular way of making it his own. As per the caption on his Weverse post, Jungkook starts off by heating water in a frying pan instead of a pot. Before the water starts to boil, he adds the sauce from the Buldak ramen and half of the powder from the Neoguri ramen directly into the water. Then, when the water reaches a rolling boil, Jungkook says, he adds the noodles, followed by the packet of sesame seeds from the Buldak ramen, and judging by the picture he included, he adds the packet of dried veggies from the Neoguri ramen, too. As a finishing touch, Jungkook also recommends adding perilla oil, a Korean flavoring oil made from perilla seeds. Fans on Weverse and TikTok have also suggested adding fried eggs, green onions, sliced pork loin, and cheese, though the ramen is just as tasty on its own.
American BTS fans sometimes get left out of the fandom's trends, for example when McDonald's US released a much more watered-down version of its BTS meal, but Jungkook's ramen recipe is American-fan–friendly. While you might not recognize the brands he uses, they're widely available in the US. You can find multipacks on Amazon — Buldak spicy chicken ramen ($14 for five) and Neoguri spicy seafood noodles ($36 for 16) — but the cheapest place to buy them is at any Asian grocery store. They're also on shelves at Walmart. The optional perilla oil may be a bit more difficult to locate, but luckily, it can easily be substituted for light sesame oil. Considering how simple it is to make, the recipe is worth trying, especially if you love spicy ramen and BTS.
Here's how to make Bulguri ramen according to Jungkook's instructions.
Ingredients
2 1/2 cups water1 package Buldak spicy chicken ramen
1 package Neoguri spicy seafood ramen
Perilla oil to taste (optional)
1 fried egg (optional)
Green onion for garnishing (optional)
