Food Challenge Week with LA’s Favorite Competitive Eating YouTuber Raina Huang

Whether you see some mysteriously giant sample food in the windows of restaurants while walking through Tokyo, or see a talent on TV eat five days’ worth of food in less than an hour, there’s no doubt that food challenges are a hugely popular thing in Japan. When so many people are concerned about eating healthy, eating in moderation, and the majority of the population are so tiny and slim, the appeal of eating vicariously by watching someone else absolutely gorge themselves makes a little more sense.

And then you wonder if you could do it, too.

Yeah, you could do that…

And then spend the rest of the night curled up into a tiny little ball of pain because you literally bit off more than you could chew, and promise yourself to leave it to the professionals next time.

But how the heck do they do it?! What’s their secret? How far can one competitive eater push the limits of absolute gluttony? Well…

This week Tokyo Survival Channel flew in Los Angeles-based Competitive Eater YouTube star Raina Huang all the way to Tokyo for a week’s worth of food fighting challenges at some of its most popular and best-kept secret food challenge restaurants. Seven food challenges in seven days in an insane attempt to eat mostly free for a week — will the food get the best of Raina, or will she show those monster courses who’s boss?

Raina will post one YouTube video for each of the seven challenges she takes on to let us in on her progress. Keep up with her here!

Challenge 1: 3kg Champion Katsudon at Katsusato Hachioji Hiraokacho (30min)

To the ooh and awe of the staff and salary men eating their lunch around her, Raina finished this massive katsudon in under 18 minutes – a little over half the allotted time. The rice was packed down for a deceptively easy-looking challenge, but Japanese rice expands in your stomach… She struggles for a moment and then tackles the rest of that bowl like a champ in record-time. She now has the privilege of leveling up to the even bigger King Katsudon challenge (about 4.5kg in size) … as long as she comes back after six months. Just another reason to come back to Japan sometime!

Challenge 2: 3.5 Kanazawa Challenge Curry at Indian Curry Nakameguro (20min)

She says this is some of the best curry she’s ever had, and it’s easy to see why. The generous serving of curry sauce is served with ten varieties of toppings, all perfectly arranged in an instagram-ready plate and bursting with flavor. The rice almost gets to her again, and she finishes with roughly minute to go! Not only did she eat for free, she earned a cash prize of 20,000 yen for finishing in time (thank you!).

Challenge 3: 3.5 kg Steak Challenge at Ribera Steak House (30min)

Now here’s a challenge that really pays off! Raina polished off 3 massive steaks along with 3 big plates of rice well within the time limit. That rice is really filling, but man the steak looks good. She notes for anyone wanting to try this food challenge that you only get one plate of steak and rice at a time. The next one will come only when you finish the one in front of you! Be careful when pacing yourself.

Challenge 4: 2kg of 16 Count Jumbo Gyoza at Ajisen Gyozabo Shibuya (30min)

These babies are advertised as gyoza, but they’re really more of a Chinese meat pie! Each weighs about a half pound, and totals about 2kg to create a hearty meal for one. Be sure to get plenty to drink, as the wrapping around the dumpling is quite thick and will make you thirsty. They’re also Ajisen’s most popular menu item and crowd pleaser! Even if you’re not up for the challenge of eating 16 of them, you can still try these tasty savory treats yourself.

Challenge 5: 2.5kg Mega Curry at Fujiyama Dragon Curry Akihabara

While Fujiyama Dragon Curry doesn’t host the Mega Curry as an actual challenge anymore, the Mega Curry is still there! I you want to give yourself a personal challenge, try timing yourself to finish in 20 minutes, but don’t expect it to be free when you finish. Your reward is a full stomach and the satisfaction that you can put this fantastic-looking curry away like a beast and live to tell the tale.

Challenge 6: 3.6kg / 4 Bowl Aburasoba King Challenge (Ramen) at Kasuga Tei Kanda (40min)

Can you believe Raina finished 4 huge bowls of piping hot noodles in only 17 minutes? Completing this challenge well within the time limit left her 10,000 yen richer than when she walked in. This ramen shop is famous for competitive eaters all across Japan and usually holds their challenges in the summer months. You can choose between multiple difficulty levels for a variety of prizes—cash and others.

A good thing to note is that once you succeed in one level, you can only try more difficult ones in the future. No trying to go easier the next time!

Challenge 7: 4.5g Spicy Beef Ramen at Chinese Langzhou Beef Noodles (45min)

This is a ramen challenge includes 9 different types of noodles, a huge block of beef, and packs a kick! Raina struggles about 5 minutes in with the quantity and spice level (about a 6/10 on her spice scale), but finishes in a whopping 13 minutes and 45 seconds! She finished in record time and got 5 free meal tickets. This delicious monster bowl of ramen is definitely worth a try.

Some food is just too good to take moderately.

Raina explored seven restaurants and completed seven food challenges over the course of a single week! Feel ready to spread your wings and try your hand at a little gluttony? There are plenty of places in Tokyo to try out if you feel up to it, starting with the great restaurants above.

She didn’t stop there, though. She took on an additional SIX food challenges for a total of 13 challenges and a grand total of 30kg of food in the span of seven days. See her Talk about going above and beyond for her fans, right? Think you can take her on?

Life is short — eat as much as you can!