Mike: Ah!
Herrine: Hi, guys.
Mike: Hey.
Herrine: Today we are at TabeTomo to try a ramen challenge.
Mike: All right, I gotta say, you texted me and you said,
"You wanna eat some ramen together?"
I said yes.
Then, two days before this, you're like,
"Oh, it's a ramen challenge."
And what terrifies me was that I asked you how big it was,
and there was no reply after that.
Herrine: Well, I didn't tell you for a good reason,
and the reason is because it's kind of ridiculous.
See, the reason why I'm here is because
I'm here for moral support,
and I really just want to see Mike try finishing a
giant, massive bowl of ramen. Mike: I knew you hated me.
You know what?
Let's do it. Let's conquer it.
Herrine: Yeah, let's go chow down!
Tomotsugu: TabeTomo is a tsukemen restaurant.
Yeah, very rare in New York, I think.
Two types of ramen and the regular ramen is Jiro,
and then tsukemen is different from ramen
because the noodle and the soup is divided, separated,
and the noodle is basically cold,
so you can enjoy the texture of the noodle.
It's a really new style, dipping ramen.
Narrator: At TabeTomo, you can get three sizes of ramen:
the regular size, the Megamori, and the Megamori XL.
Tomotsugu: Megamori challenge:
That is huge noodle, like Mt. Fuji, like this, this amount,
and I don't think you can eat all of them,
but you know like, it's, wow.
Narrator: For the Megamori XL challenge,
contenders have 50 minutes to finish the whole bowl.
Mike: I don't know what's going on in the world.
Herrine: But are you giving up?
Mike: No.
Hey, I'm a fighter.
I will stand in the ring.
Herrine: All right, you gotta keep going.
Narrator: But, before we get into the challenge,
let's see how the Megamori XL is built.
Chef Kubo's tonkatsu ramen broth simmers for 60 hours.
It's made with pork back fat and pig bones.
Tomotsugu: Basically the texture of the noodle
is totally different because the noodle is cold
and also the broth is really salty.
Herrine: A combination of the chef's secret sauce,
garlic, and pork back fat make the broth.
Then it's time to top it with
a giant mound of bean sprouts, soft-boiled egg, and spinach.
In a separate bowl of noodles, Chef Kubo adds more chashu
and soft-boiled egg, bamboo shoots, and scallions.
Herrine: What is the best way to enjoy tsukemen?
Tomotsugu: So you dip it and eat it.
You can, you know, enjoy dipping style of tsukemen.
If you want to try the Japanese style,
eat everything quick, right away, within five minutes.
Herrine: Can we do that with the challenge?
I don't think we can do that.
Tomotsugu: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Herrine: Yeah, it's very small, like me.
Mike: Yes, its adorable.
Like you.
Herrine: Aw, that's very nice.
Mike: You're gonna eat that.
Herrine: Yeah, I can't wait to see how big yours is.
Mike: I'm a little afraid right now.
Wait, that's not over?
When this was brought to me, I was thinking, OK, that's it.
Then,
it has a twin, a soupy twin.
Herrine: Wow.
Mike: You.
Yeah, no wonder you didn't text me back
after I asked you how big this was.
I don't think I would have shown up today.
Herrine: What are your thoughts?
Do you think you can finish it?
This is the regular size, that's the Megamori XL.
Mike: This?
Oh, this could,
you could eat for a year, off this, you.
Herrine: I don't think you are going to finish that.
There's no doubt about it.
Mike: Do you see my hands trembling?
I'm just like so excited because it smells so incredible.
Herrine: Percentage wise,
how much do you think you'll be able to finish?
Mike: I mean, I'm starving, so I could,
I could knock this down by half.
I think.
Herrine: Do you have a tactic?
Mike: The tactic is shove it in my mouth as fast as I can.
Let's do it.
Herrine: Let's do it.
You are kinda getting broth like all over your shirt.
Mike: It's a battle, Herrine.
All right, there's gonna be casualties,
and I think my shirt might just have to be one of them.
Herrine: Well, I'm gonna try doing the minimal amount.
Mike: Oh, thank you.
Do you think this will overflow the bowl?
Herrine: I don't know.
Mike: Oh, I sounded like an animal just now.
Herrine: How are you feeling?
You're like 20% in,
and that's a generous --
Mike: I don't feel like I made a dent.
I feel like I've been eating so much.
You know what?
I definitely feel it because it is noodles,
so it does take up real estate in your stomach.
Herrine: You know what?
Mike: Mm-hm?
Herrine: I don't know if you noticed this, but --
Mike: What?
Herrine: I'm almost all done with noodles.
I might want some more.
I wish I could take from you, but then,
it would disqualify you from the challenge.
Mike: I think seeing it disqualified me from the challenge.
There's a famous Chinese saying:
"眼大肚子小."
In this case, eyes way, way, way bigger
than my stomach today.
I mean, it's delicious and I can,
I'm gonna keep going.
Herrine: Mm-hm.
Mike: But it's not disappearing at all.
Herrine: I know. Mike: I mean
I'm eating nonstop.
Herrine: I have to burp.
Don't worry about it.
This normal portion is making me full.
I don't know how you're gonna finish that.
Mike: Hey, what's that?
Look, you got more noodles.
Herrine: I feel like I just walked myself into that one.
I feel like you just ate everything around the noodles.
Oh, are you getting the, you,
fun fact, Mike starts sneezing when he gets full,
and he's starting to sneeze, which means it's a bad sign.
You only finished maybe like,
20-ish percent.
Mike: You know what?
Banana! Banana! It's supposed to help you stop sneezing.
Banana.
Wait, I think someone just told me that as a joke.
I don't think it actually works.
Herrine: Are you okay?
I think we're losing him.
Last bite.
I'm here rooting you on. I'm your cheerleader.
You can do it!
I don't feel good.
Mike: This is the largest amount of food
ever put in front of me.
Herrine: Wow.
So what is your ratio of wins and losses
of all the challenges you've done?
Mike: About 50/50.
Herrine: Really?
Mike: Uh-huh.
And this one?
I mean, is losing to the Mike Tyson of food really that bad?
Herrine: Is this the one you've done most poorly on?
Mike: Yup, I swear I ate a lot.
You guys can't even see it.
This is demoralizing.
Ooh, if I finish this, then it looks a lot less.
Herrine: I don't feel too good.
See that's what I'm here for, for moral support.
Oh, OK, maybe not.
Mike: Oh, my God.
Oh, thank God.
Herrine: That's the alarm.
Mike: Oh, thank God, I give up.
This is the hardest thing I've ever done in my life.
I got this.
I defeated it.