China chili-eating contest kicked off in Hunan province in central China which contestants need to finish a gut-busting 50 peppers in a minute.
On its second year, a local boy named Tang Shuaihui took home a 3-gram 24-karat gold coin for winning the competition which is put on by a local theme park in the county of Ningxiang. With doctors on hand just in case, ten contestants each held plates heaped with 50 Tabasco chili peppers, racing to be the first to finish off the red-hot fruits.
In just 68 seconds, Tang finishes his plate, held in nearly sweltering temperatures and as competitors sat in a shallow pool filled with water and three tonnes of floating chilis.
Sun Minying, an employee at the theme park, called the Tanhe Ancient City said:
“He finished them at an amazing speed, barely after the emcee had finished speaking.”
The Tabasco pepper has a rank of 30,000-50,000 on the Scoville Heat Scale that measures the piquancy of chilis, which puts it somewhere between a jalapeno and a habanero.
However, the peppers bobbing in the pool were of a weaker variety to avoid irritation to the contestant’s skin.
Contestants were wearing shorts and t-shirts, holding a small bottle of water, dipping into a pool of bright red peppers. The contestants were seen smiling and one man floated on his back in the pool of chilies. The China chili-eating contest is part of the festival celebrated on August, with a fresh chili-eating contest held every day.
Hunan cuisine is marked by its spicy peppers and richly colored dishes and is considered among China’s eight great food traditions along with Sichuan, Cantonese, and other cuisines.
Watch the video below: