The King of the Big Stomach

By Chua Lam

A food-eating contest was held in a food court for publicity. There were six participants, five of whom were from Hong Kong, while the sixth was from Tokyo, whose name was Takeru Kobayashi, “The King of the Big Stomach” in Japan.

As “The King of the Big Stomach,” Kobayashi was neither fat nor ugly. Instead, this 27-yearold looked more like a pop singer with his hair dyed blonde and eyebrows trimmed neat. He went everywhere with his manager and assistant.

Before the contest, we sat down and had a chat.

“Were you born with a big stomach?”

He was very respectful, “No, my family doesn't eat much.”

“Then you were trained to have a big stomach?”

“Training is absolutely necessary, we started with a bowl of rice, then increase to two bowls,three bowls, four bowls, and there you are.” He said.

“You have been the champion for five consecutive years in the hot dog competition in New York.How many exactly can you eat?”

“I can eat more than 50 hotdogs or more than 60 hamburgers.”

“Isn't a burger bigger than a hot dog?”

“It's not as big as the burger in a restaurant,” he replied honestly.“It's smaller than a hot dog.”

“This contest is to eat cha siu bao, How many do you think you can have in 12 minutes?” I asked.

“I haven't tried, not sure yet.”

“Do you have other jobs now?”

“No. I live exclusively on my earnings from eating contests.”

“There are so many contests going on in the world, how do you know where they will be held?”

“All the information can be found on the internet, my manager seeks them out for me,and I go to one after another. I have this year fully scheduled already.” he said.

Our chat time was up, and a staff member asked us to go on stage.

紐約吃熱狗比賽上，日本“大胃王”小林尊榮獲冠軍Takeru Kobayashi, “The King of the Big Stomach” from Japan, won the championship in the the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest in New York

There were other contestants standing on the stage already,all of whom taller and bigger than Kobayashi, and all of whom appeared confident in their appetites.

When it was Kobayashi's turn to come on the stage, he walked out with a grace that was hailed by many young girls who took him as a star. On the stage, the staff had already put out basket after basket of buns, ten buns stacked high in each basket.

Kobayashi turned out to be the fastest eater and consumed a whole steamer of buns in one minute, while other contestants only finished three.

Coming to the second steamer,Kobayashi swayed his body and danced with the rhythm of the music while eating. He's really a sophisticated performer.

When the third steamer was gone, I found that his trick was to crumple up the bun, making it fl atter and easier to swallow. Then he'd drink some water. When he reached for the fourth steamer, I asked him from behind: “Doesn't water make the dough swell?”

He wasn't distracted from his task while answering me: “Not really, it actually softens the pastry.”

After the fifth steamer, other contestants had slowed down and showed signs of panting. Yet Kobayashi already finished six steamers.

When six minutes had passed and the game was half over,the atmosphere was even more heated. He looked so confident that people would never conjure up in their minds the horrible image of a burst belly.

As time passed by, I found that his average speed was one bun for every seven seconds and had already consumed eight steamers.

At this time other contestants were pretty much done, and Kobayashi was bound to win.Yet he didn't stop, as if he was planning to break his own record.By the ninth one, he had two more minutes to go. I cheered my best for him, and he reached the 98th bun, the 99th, and the 100th, then his mission was accomplished.

He ate one hundred buns in 12 minutes.

Photo flashes fired up when Kobayashi was announced the winner. In comparison with him,other contestants had eaten no more than 50.

“Do you feel your belly swollen?” asked the reporter.

Kobayashi generously lifted his T-shirt up and showed his big belly. When everyone exclaimed,he contracted it again to show his six packs, like a bodybuilder.

He went out of his way to advise children: “Please don't copy me, I have been trained.”

“Had you eaten anything before the game?”

“No,” he replied resolutely, “I stayed hungry for three days to get prepared.”

“How many meals do you usually have a day?”

“Six meals. Not much food per meal though.” Kobayashi replied.

“Now you have eaten a hundred buns, are you going to have dinner tonight?”

“Hong Kong is a gourmet paradise. I am full, yet I still want to try your seafood.”

(From Eat, Drink and Love,Guangdong People's Publishing House. Translation: Lu Qiongyao)

Note:

Cha siu bao is a steamed bun stuffed with barbecued roast pork

日本“大胃王”小林尊Takeru Kobayashi, “The King of the Big Stomach” from Japan