Eat More Chicken

This is the post that's long overdue in some ways. In the year 2011, Chick Fil A at the La Habra Marketplace held three nugget eating championships. I won all of them, each time establishing a new record. I pushed the standard from 107 to 201, 205, and now 206. My strongest competition came from Frank Paulin and The Spicialist (197).

Chick Fil A's contest is unique because it follows the pattern of Japanese long-distance eating contests. Competitors get two hours to eat as many nuggets as possible. The format suits my eating ability and generally I outpaced my rivals by a wide margin.

By contrast, American-style speed eating contests are limited to 12 minutes or less. The Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Contest and most other contests in the US follow this format. Since my speed skills are not highly refined, my results in those contests aren't nearly as impressive.

Chick Fil A's nuggets have a balanced taste. They're made from white meat and the batter isn't overwhelming. All of the dipping sauces create a wealth of variety, though sooner or later you will endure flavor frustration. The texture of chicken nuggets becomes too repetitive (that's the problem with a two hour contest). I was happy they had several drinks to choose from. The sodium content is probably the most challenging element of this contest. I love chicken so this contest food is a good fit for me.

The next contest is in February 2012. If nothing else, I look forward to defending my title and possibly setting a higher record. This contest is special to me because La Habra is next door to Buena Park, a city I spent over 10 years. I graduated from Buena Park High and many of my friends still eat at this Chick Fil A and see my name on the wall. There's incentive for me to keep my name up.

To parody Tolstoy: how many nuggets does a man need? That's not really the appropriate question. Rather, it's: how many can a man hold in his stomach? I'll have the answer in February.