‘I think I actually lost weight’: UK competitive eater takes on fried rice challenge, suffers from the heat

SINGAPORE: Competitive eating has become more and more popular in recent years, thanks to, at least in part, social media. (Mukbang, anyone?)

However, when a competitive eating heavyweight (see what we did there?) from the United Kingdom recently came to Singapore to partake in the Ah Ma Fried Rice Challenge, it seemed to us that it was the heat that got him down, rather than the amount of food.

Pausing to wipe his face a few times during the challenge, he quipped at the end that he thought he might have actually lost weight despite the large amount of fried rice he consumed.

Adam Moran, better known as Beard Meets Food online, posted a video on YouTube on Nov 2 titled “FINISH THE MASSIVE FRIED RICE CHALLENGE AT THIS MARKET IN SINGAPORE AND WIN $100!”

Last month, a stall in Yishun called Ah Ma Taste launched a fried rice challenge. The twist for the highest level is that the stall will give out 100 packets of Ah Ma Fried Rice to low-income families, though in order to win, a contestant needs to finish 5 kilos of fried rice. Winners also get the meal for free and a S$150 cash reward.

The basic challenge is for someone to eat 2.5 kilos of fried rice, and if they’re able to do so, they also get a free meal plus S$50 in dine-in vouchers.

“The stakes have been raised!  We’ve seen many challengers step up…but Ah Ma is still waiting for more finishers!

Prove your appetite. Make Ah Ma proud. Are you up for it? BLK 848 Yishun St 81 #01-222 (Located at Broadway Coffee Shop),” the stall said in a Facebook post.

As far as we can see, there’s been at least one winner.

Spoiler alert, Mr Moran, who also took on similar big food challenges in other spots in Singapore, also emerged as a winner, much to the amusement and amazement of onlookers at the coffee shop, who watched him grapple with the heat and the fried rice.

In fairness, he found it delicious, but said he was ready for an ice cream afterwards. At the end of the video, Mr Moran showed himself laughing in the car park as heavy rains could be heard outside, which explains why it was so humid when he took the challenge.

For many commenters, it was the reactions of the passersby that gave them the most delight.

“Doing a food challenge next to a main walking path made this so much funnier,” wrote one.

“The people walking by had me rollin’! The younger ladies seemed awestruck, while the older ladies just nodded in approval,” added another.

A third wrote, “This has the best reactions of any of your videos I’ve watched. The sheer confusion and bewilderment on the faces of the people passing by as they struggled to understand what you could be trying to do, and then the few that got it slowly, realising and trying to give you encouragement even though they clearly thought you were a madman.”

“The challenge was OK, but the Singaporeans were awesome!! Amused, disgusted, shocked, supporting, you got the whole range of reactions,” a YouTuber chimed in.

“You need to eat in more open places like this, Adam mate, this video is gold. The randomers walking passed with the gormless look of befuddlement make it. For me, it’s the best video this year. Brilliant,” another wrote. /TISG

Read also: Malaysia’s Ashwad Jalani breaks Singapore’s Zermatt Neo’s mammoth Nasi Kandar eating record of S$90 with S$105!