Do you crave things that give you a warm feeling in your mouth, throat, and gut? How about something a little bit hotter than that? Here is a list of the best spicy dishes and restaurants that do a specific spicy food proud. We will look at what is in each dish and what to expect from it.
떡볶이(Tteok-bo-kki) – a saucy rice cake
Known globally thanks in part to Korean TV and Cinema, Duk bokki is a simple dish to make and is a great introduction to Korean food.떡볶이 (Tteok-bo-kki) is a dish that consists of rice cakes or fish cakes cooked in a sweet, yet delightfully spicy red sauce. The sauce is made from of Korean soup stock 다시다 (Dashi Stock),고추장 (Go-chu-jang) and 고춧가루(Chilli pepper flakes). Generally, Duk bokki is spicy enough to get you craving a cold drink but still tolerable. However, in this world, there are some sadists that turn up the heat to 11. If you are really into being tortured with food, try ‘동대문 엽기 떡볶이(Dong-dae-mun Yeop-gi Tteok-bo-kki), a Korean food chain reknowned for its spicy Tteok-bo-kki. If you’d rather go old school and hit up a food stall, then get yourself down to 선릉역(Seon-leung Station), take the exit 1, carry on straight and you will find the well-known 선매 떡볶이(Seon-mae Tteok-bo-kki), so hot they have a sign out front saying “It’s very, very hot, we are not responsible!”
짬뽕 (Jjam-ppong) – When China met Korea
Jjampong is a seafood noodle soup that has a daringly red soup color. This fusion of Korean and Chinese cuisine is spicy as a regular dish, but is usually available as a “not spicy” version. This is a noodle and seafood dish, coated in a neon red sauce, and that in itself should be enough to warn most logically minded folks not to eat this. However, there is a restaurant in Seoul that has done the rounds of Korean television from Infinite Challenge to Sponge 2.0 back in the days. 신길동 매운 짬뽕(Singil-Dong Spicy Jjam-ppong) is famous for having a hellish recipe for this dish, outside the restaurant is a sign that keeps track of all the people who have fainted from their dish. And it is updated MONTHLY. This ultra hot dish isn’t for the weak of heart, or gut, beneath that first sign is another sign requesting that patrons don’t regurgitate their food outside the business.
라면 (Ra-myeon) – A sadistic twist on a classic
라면(Ra-myeon) is a Korean classic and a staple in their diet, it is a quick and simple meal/snack, and that is the way it has always been. Well, not really always, some people felt the need to make this dish incredibly spicy, and vastly overpowered. While Shin Ra-myeon is the nation’s favorite, but that’s bush-league by comparison to ‘틈새 라면(Teum-sae Ra-myeon), in 명동(Myeong-dong), and this place has been around for 30 years! Think of this as Shin Ramyeon times two on the spice scale, that became so popular, that they got their own “Make it at home” packets. Of course, if it is homemade ra-myeon you’re looking for to blow the lid off your head, then look no further than the “Fire Ra-myeon” so hot it sparked an internet trend of people eating it, then sweating it right back out again. For about 3 months, all the big-name Youtubers were eating Fire Ra-myeon in various ways attempting to out-do each other, and this can be purchased world over online from the likes of Amazon or in most good Asian Markets.