On Saturday, Aug. 16, the 74th annual Nisei Week Japanese Festival will host the eighth annual Day-Lee Foods World Gyoza Eating Championship, an official Major League Eating (MLE) event, from 2 p.m. at Lot 7/2 behind the Japanese American National Museum.
Can hot-dog eating champs like Joey Chestnut and Miki Sudo dethrone Matt “the Megatoad” Stonie and his world-record 268 potstickers in 10 minutes? Competitors will have 10 minutes to eat as many Day-Lee Pride brand gyoza as possible.
Last year, Chestnut, the reigning Nathan’s hot-dog eating champion, was upset by Stonie, who is a native of San Jose and weighs just 120 pounds. This year the two will resume their gyoza duel, setting up the beginnings of an exciting new rivalry.
The contest will take place as part of the Ramen Yokocho Downtown L.A. Festival.
The event includes a field of MLE stars and a couple of local amateurs who will take aim at a cash purse and a stomach full of gyoza. Also set to compete are 2013 Nisei Week Queen Lauren Iwata and members of her court.
Chestnut, 27, gained fame in 2005 by defeating hot-dog eating champion Takeru Kobayashi for the first time. Since then, Chestnut, a San Jose native, has gone on to win eight straight Nathan’s mustard belts and comes to Little Tokyo ranked first by the International Federation of Competitive Eating.
Day-Lee Foods will also have a food booth to purchase their delicious potstickers.
Admission is free but seating is extremely limited, so arrive early. There will be plenty of standing room available. Contest information can be found on Twitter (www.twitter.com/@EatMoreGyoza) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/GyozaChampionship). For more information, email gyoza@niseiweek.org.