Which Tuk-Dak flavour should you get?

There are five, they are all around 24 to 26g of protein, and the packs look similar enough that most people pick one at random and hope. They are not interchangeable. Here is what each one is actually for, including the two things we would rather tell you before you buy than after.

The short answer

• Eating it straight from the pack? Black Pepper.
• Cooking with it, in rice, salad or a sandwich? Mild.
• Want it to taste like a meal? Teriyaki.
• Want heat, and the biggest pack? Chilli.
• Building wraps, tacos or a burrito bowl? Taco.

If you genuinely cannot choose, the 5 Pack starter bundle exists for exactly this reason. Flavour preference in this category is completely personal and one pack of the wrong one puts people off the whole idea.

Mild: the one you build on

Salt and sugar. That is the entire seasoning. It does not bring a flavour of its own to the party, which is the point: shred it into fried rice, drop it on a salad, build a sandwich around it, and it will not fight whatever else is in there.

24g protein · 117 Cal · 100g pack. It is also the one parents buy: no heat, no strong spice, soft grain. The honest downside is that some people find it too plain eaten on its own.

Black Pepper: the one to eat as-is

Bold, not hot. Coarse cracked pepper does all the work, so it reads aromatic and savoury rather than spicy. This is the one most people come back for, and it is the flavour we would hand someone who is eating it straight from the pack at their desk.

24g protein · 127 Cal · 100g pack. If you want actual heat, that is the Chilli, not this.

Teriyaki: the one people name first

Ask a Tuk-Dak buyer which flavour to get and this is usually the answer. Sweet, savoury and properly glazed, the closest thing in the range to a bento shop meal. It is also a 120g pack, 20 per cent more chicken than Mild or Black Pepper for the same money.

25g protein · 143 Cal · 120g pack.

Chilli: sweet heat, biggest pack

Korean chilli is sweet before it is hot, so this is not a burn for the sake of it. Buyers consistently describe it as mild to medium. Like Teriyaki it is a 120g pack, so you get 20g more chicken than Mild or Black Pepper.

25g protein · 143 Cal · 120g pack. This is the one people reach for when they are sick of bland gym food and it is day fifteen.

Taco: highest protein, and the driest

Our newest flavour and the highest protein in the range at 26g, with 0g of carbohydrate and no declarable allergens. The grain is firmer than the rest, so it shreds into strands instead of breaking into chunks. In a wrap or a burrito bowl it behaves like pulled chicken.

26g protein · 117 Cal · 100g pack.

Side by side

1. Most protein. Taco, 26g. Then Chilli and Teriyaki at 25g, Mild and Black Pepper at 24g.
2. Most food. Chilli and Teriyaki, 120g packs against 100g for the other three.
3. Fewest allergens. Taco declares none. Teriyaki is the only one with molluscs and milk.
4. Lowest calories. Mild at 117 Cal, with Taco level at 117 in a 100g pack.

All five are ready to eat straight from the pack, keep for 12 months without a fridge, and are made in Korea. The protein difference across the range is 2g, so pick on taste and texture, not on the numbers.

How people actually use them

The pattern we see in orders is not "one favourite flavour". It is two or three in rotation: a plain one for cooking, a strong one for eating as-is, and something with sauce for when the first two have got boring. That is what the 20 Pack is built around, and it is why the mixed packs outsell the singles.