We Found This $12.90 XL-Sized Tray of Instant Noodles Touted “Only For Mukbang Challengers”
Strolling through 7-Eleven, 8days.sg came across an intriguing find — a gigantic tray of Korea-imported instant noodles bigger than our head.
Priced at $12.90 each, it comes in two flavours: Hot & Spicy and Kimchi Spicy. Even spicier, a small tagline on the lid taunts: “Only for mukbang challengers”.
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Mukbang, which originated from Korea, is an online trend where content creators stream themselves eating massive amounts of food while interacting with their followers.
The Korean instant noodle manufacturer, the hilariously-named Ajumma Republic, even cheekily added a meta reference on their mukbang noodles via a video progress bar printed on the packaging.
The concept is low-key intriguing, though. Are we supposed to eat this by ourselves while live-streaming our glutton’s feast to our supportive pet dog? Can we share this with our friends, or does that void the challenge?
Anyway, we bought both flavours to try… and lived to tell you what went down.
What’s inside
Upon opening the large styrofoam container, we came face to face with four full-sized blocks of instant noodles. It’s typical of what you’d expect from any instant noodle pack — just four times the amount. We suppose it’s like Ip Man taking on baddies; one is a waste of time, and four is a proper fight. Zermatt Neo, are you seeing this?
Other than noodles, there were also little packets of seasoning and a sachet of freeze-dried veggie bits. The ‘soup’ sachet is the main seasoning, giving the broth its spice and saltiness, while the ‘flake’ sachet included freeze-dried veggies like spring onions and carrot bits.
What set the two flavours apart are the extras: the Spicy Kimchi packet also comes with a large pack of fresh kimchi (the packaging also boasted it has REAL spicy kimchi, though we initially weren’t sure if the manufacturer was just bragging about their kimchi’s spiciness. Po-tay-toe, po-tah-toe we suppose).
Preparation
Preparing it is as simple as you'd expect. Pour the soup seasoning sachet and dried veggies into the container, add about 1.5 litres of boiling water up to the inner line indicated on the tray, and wait four minutes for everything to cook. For the Spicy Kimchi version, there is the additional step of mixing in the kimchi.
Taste Test: Hot & Spicy flavour
Starting with the Hot & Spicy, we quickly found ourselves underwhelmed. For something claiming to be "spicy," the heat is pretty tame — just a light peppery kick that lingered at the back of our throat, nothing too intense.
The broth is bland and fairly basic. Not bad, but nothing memorable either. The veggie sachet came with tiny slices of dried pink Japanese naruto fishcakes that plump up a little in the hot water. While cute, the slices are thin and don’t add much flavour.
The Spicy Kimchi
The Spicy Kimchi flavour, on the other hand, is more impressive. Adding the “real spicy kimchi” gives the broth a deeper, richer taste, and the spicy kick is much more satisfying.The sourness from the kimchi is also a good foil for the spice, and whets our appetite (yeah, we definitely need that). Plus, it has tiny tofu puffs that add a nice texture, almost mimicking bits of minced meat. We find ourselves genuinely enjoying this flavour, which is much more interesting and fun to eat.
For both flavour versions, the noodles are the standard instant-cook type, but its texture holds up surprisingly well. Even after half an hour of eating, the noodles remained ‘qq’ (springy) and didn’t turn soggy, which is a win in our books.
Between the two flavours, the Spicy Kimchi is the clear winner with its extra pack of kimchi that adds some oomph to what is otherwise basic instant noodles. If you're looking to get your money’s worth, it’s the one to go for.
Mukbang challenge verdict
We’re not gonna lie: as a small eater, we threw in the towel after eating for 30 minutes, though we were not even halfway through finishing the noodles. But it just got jelak pretty fast and we felt like we were trying to eat our way through an instant noodle black hole. Halp lah.
Now, the million dollar question is, can one person finish this by themselves? Our guy friend gamely said: “Duh… watch me.” (Plot twist: he couldn’t finish it.) The girls were more realistic, exclaiming: “No! I definitely need at least a team of three and some encouragement from my mum.”
Our verdict on whether it’s worth buying? At $12.90 for what is essentially four individual packets’ worth of instant noodles, the Mukbang Challenger is too pricey for what it is. We reckon you can recreate this for under $3 with house brand instant noodles, a sanitised tray, and the right attitude.
But if you don’t mind splurging, this would make a great midnight supper… if you have not eaten for five days or want to feed a group of starving friends.
Available at selected 7-Eleven stores and NTUC FairPrice supermarkets.
Photos: Tasha Ting
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