Ottogi Cooked Rice and Spicy Octopus Bowl

This is Ottogi’s spicy octopus over rice in a cup format, sold as a two-component kit with a pouch of octopus sauce and a separate cup of pre-cooked rice. The last Ottogi rice cup I tried was the fish roe version and I loved it, so I was excited to open this one.

Produced in South Korea by Ottogi Co., Ltd.

What’s in the Package

Inside the outer cup you’ll find three components: a sealed bowl of pre-cooked white rice, a pouch of spicy octopus sauce, and a small plastic spoon. The large outer bowl doubles as your cooking bowl, so you don’t need any extra dishes.

How to Cook Ottogi Cooked Rice and Spicy Octopus Bowl

1. Pour the octopus sauce into the large outer bowl, then add the rice on top of the sauce.
2. Cover the large bowl with the empty rice bowl so the sauce doesn’t splatter, then microwave for 1 minute 20 seconds (1,000W).
3. Pull it out carefully because the bowl gets hot. Mix the sauce through the rice and eat.

How Does It Taste

The sauce is delicious. You taste the spice right away, with a real gochujang and gochugaru backbone and a clear sesame oil finish that rounds the heat out. The heat is there, the sweetness from the gochujang is there, and the savory umami of the octopus pulls it all together.

The octopus is the surprise. The pieces are tender, not rubbery, and they actually taste like octopus. That’s rare in a shelf-stable product. There’s enough of it in the pouch to make every spoonful a mixed bite of rice and protein.

The rice itself is soft and slightly sticky after microwaving, which is what you want under a wet, saucy topping. It has a noticeable heat that builds but doesn’t wreck the bowl.

How Does It Compare

The closest match on the site is the Ottogi Cooked Rice and Fish Roe with Kimchi, another Ottogi microwave rice cup built around seafood. That one pairs popping fish roe with sour kimchi, so it goes tangy and briny where this octopus bowl goes spicy and savory. If you like the Ottogi rice cup format, they make a good pair to keep on the shelf.

For something outside the Ottogi line, Haidilao Cup Rice Red Stew Flavor is the next closest, though it leans Chinese rather than Korean and runs in a different protein direction. But if you specifically want spicy Korean seafood over rice in a microwave cup, this Spicy Octopus is in a class of its own here.

How to Level Up Ottogi Cooked Rice and Spicy Octopus Bowl

I would add a spoonful of kimchi and a small drizzle of extra toasted sesame oil right before eating.

If you happen to have pickled octopus from the Korean market, stirring a few pieces in alongside the bowl’s own octopus doubles down on the protein. A sprinkle of toasted sesame seeds or a few leaves of shredded nori on top finish the bowl.

Final Verdict

Ottogi Cooked Rice with Spicy Octopus is one of the best instant rice bowls I’ve tried. The octopus is tender and plentiful, the sauce is a balanced gochujang-gochugaru-sesame trio, and the rice does exactly what it should. James and I both said we’d buy this one again without hesitation.

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Have you tried this spicy octopus bowl? Rate it below!

Related Instant Ramen

• Haidilao Cup Rice Red Stew Flavor
• Maruchan Instant Rice Bowl Mexican Rice
• Ottogi Jin Ramen Mild
• Ottogi Jin Ramen Mild with Beef Bone Broth
• Ottogi Bulgogi Flavor Ramen Snack

Where to buy Ottogi Cooked Rice and Spicy Octopus Bowl

• Amazon
• Hmart
• Walmart
• Weee!
• Yami