A Japanese eating champion beat five local challengers to win his first contest in Hong Kong on Sunday, gulping down 100 roasted pork buns in just 12 minutes.
Takeru Kobayashi, a five-times winner of the Nathan's hotdog-eating competition in New York, tightly squeezed each of the local delicacies before stuffing them into his mouth amid a cheering crowd at the Lung of the World eating final.
Sipping water regularly to help him soften the buns, Kobayashi – known as "The Tsunami" – effortlessly outguzzled his challengers to win 20,000 Hong Kong dollars (2,600 US).
Runner-up Johnny Wu ate just 47 buns.
The five-foot-seven professional competitive eater, who weighs 143 pounds, displayed his abdominal muscles after his win.
In the semi-final Saturday he beat 30 challengers by downing 83 steamed dumplings in eight minutes.
Kobayashi, 27, set a world record in 2004 by gulping down 53 1/2 hotdogs in 12 minutes at Nathan's. He won another world record the same year by eating 69 hamburgers in eight minutes at Krystal Square Off in Tennessee.
