Zermatt Neo smashes his chicken rice challenge record
Eating ain't easy. The champ breaks his own record while none of his challengers manage to even finish more than half their plate.
He came, he saw, he wolfed down a huge plate of chicken rice.
On Wednesday evening, personal trainer Mr Zermatt Neo, 28, beat his own record for eating the mega chicken rice.
Last Saturday, he polished off the hefty near-4kg portion of chicken rice — that’s 10 servings of rice and a whole chicken — in just under 30 minutes.
The video of his gluttonous feat became an internet hit over the past week.
But during the Mega Chicken Rice Challenge, which took place at Xiang Ji Roasted Delights, on Bukit Batok West Avenue 5, he smash his previous time by downing the dish in a personal best of 25 minutes and 30 seconds.
Five others took part in the challenge to try to beat Mr Neo’s time.
“I actually feel pretty decent despite eating faster. I guess my body is accustomed to it already,” said Mr Neo a few moments after his last spoonful.
He said: “This contest is pretty successful in my opinion. The crowd really loved it and they were really engaging.”
With a crowd of neighbourhood fans cheering them on, the competitors tried to finish their heaped portions within 40 minutes. And it was not just for a free meal.
If they had managed to finish it within the time, the meal ($28) would be free and they would also receive a $50 shopping voucher each. However, should they beat Mr Neo’s 29-minute record, they would win $500.
Mr Marcus Chan, 30, who is Mr Neo’s friend, emerged as the ‘champion’ among the five competitors.
RULE CHANGE
He walked away with a $100 shopping voucher as at the 30-minute mark, event organisers Food League Singapore decided to change the rules.
It was clear that none of the five competitors literally did not have the stomach to match Mr Neo so it was decided that who ever had the least left on their plate after 40 minutes would win a $100 voucher.
Nobody else managed to finish, but when all the dishes were weighed, Mr Chan had 1.8kg left, which meant he had eaten the most after Mr Neo.
“I stopped eating after 20 minutes because I just couldn’t do it anymore. But at least I managed to eat a little less than half of it,” said Mr Chan. It was not Mr Chan’s first eating contest. He first met Mr Neo at the Ramen Champion’s Ramen Big Eater Challenge in November 2013.
Mr Chan felt that the portions each came to over 3kg but was still up for helping his friend.
“I came down just to support him and give it a go,” said the interior designer.
The only female competitor was Ms Aikawa Nakamura, 36, who came in fourth with 2.7kg left over.
She told TNP: “I’m known to have a big appetite among my friends and they call me the “Makan Queen”.
“When my guy friends saw the post about the mega chicken rice, they forced me to go for it,” she added.
“I have to stick to my “Makan Queen” title and prove I can do it.”
As part of preparation for the big event, she said she spent the days leading up to the contest just eating then resting to get her stomach ready for a
huge amount of food. Sadly, the preparation was not enough.
Even though she didn’t win, Ms Nakamura was just happy to have been a part of it.
“That’s one more thing crossed off my bucket list,” she said.
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