Raina Huang
Raina Huang | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1994 |
| Alma mater | UC Riverside |
| Occupations | |
Raina Huang (born in 1994[1] ) is an American competitive eater and Internet celebrity, known for eating large quantities of food despite her diminutive size.
Personal life
[edit]Huang is of Chinese descent;[1] in 2019, she was living with her parents in the small town of Walnut, California.[2]
Before turning to competitive eating, she attended UC Riverside, where she studied business. Her father works in information technology and she has a younger sister.[3]
She was also the first female chef for Benihana.[2]
Competitive eating
[edit]Huang attributes her ability to eat large quantities of food to her small stature, explaining that too much abdominal fat prevents the stomach from expanding.[2]
She has been competing since around 2017 after being challenged to eat a four-pound burrito. To prepare, she fasts and exercises before a challenge, often not eating on the day of. In 2022, it was reported that she was doing around 100 eating challenges a year.[4]
She posts videos of her eating challenges to various social media platforms, having approximately 2.9 million followers.[5]
In addition to humans, she has also competed against animals; one challenge seeing who could eat more salad, Huang or a giant rabbit. Huang won the competition, admitting that she rarely eats salad outside of competitions.[1][6]
She has faced some backlash over her efforts from businesses; she was kicked out of a Colorado pizzeria in 2019, the owner suspecting she was trying to "scam" the restaurant. The video of her being asked to leave was posted to her social media channels; despite the negative comments from the owner, she wished them well.[7]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b c Loftus, Jamie (February 22, 2022). "A 20-pound bunny. A competitive eater. Lots of salad. Who will win?". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
- ^ a b c Hayden, Tyler (September 16, 2019). "Æbleskivers Fear Raina Huang". Santa Barbara Independent. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
- ^ Do, Anh (December 30, 2019). "Embracing failures and successes, Asian American business network aims to reach 1 million members". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
- ^ Fearns, Nick (August 19, 2022). "Raina Huang unleashes beast mode on the Backroad Barbecue in Port Colborne to beat the Backroad Beast Feast". Port Colborne Leader. Port Colborne, Ontario. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
- ^ Hennes, Rebecca (August 12, 2021). "Social media influencer takes food challenge tour of Houston restaurants, dominates all of them". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
- ^ Devall, Allan; Ross, James (February 2, 2022). "Giant bunny loses in California salad-eating contest". Reuters. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
- ^ Sapienza, Brandon (June 2, 2021). "Competitive eater kicked out of Colorado pizzeria". New York Daily News. Retrieved August 28, 2023.