buldak

Buldak () is a South Korean spicy barbecued chicken dish.

== History == Buldak became popular in South Korea during 2006, primarily for its extreme pungency. Several sources theorize the economic downturn at the time caused people to seek out spicy food as a stress reliever. The rise in popularity of buldak set the trend for extremely hot dishes in South Korea, which led to the rise of buldak franchise restaurants. However, the name buldak was registered at a patent office in April 2001 by Buwon Food, who claimed trademark rights to the name. This led to strong opposition from Hongcho Buldak and other leading buldak restaurants, who claimed that the term had been used as a common noun. On 30 April 2008, the Patent Court of Korea agreed that term was generalized and buldak became free for public use. Although the popularity of buldak has declined in recent years in South Korea, the dish has led to the development of other successful dishes inspired by it, such as buldak-flavored instant noodles by Samyang Food.