Rob’s Spicy Tuna Roll Challenge at Bushido

On Saturday night, my friend Rob participated in a spicy tuna roll challenge at Bushido Japanese restaurant. A bunch of his friends got together to watch him chow down on 10 tuna hand rolls, with the heat intensifying in each one.  You may have seen an episode of Man Vs. Food where Adam Richman participates in this same challenge. If you eat all 10 rolls on different occasions, you are called warriors; if you eat all 10 in one sitting, you are considered a legend of the roll. During the challenge, you are not allowed to eat or drink anything other than water. You are also not allowed to use the bathroom/get sick!

For the past several weeks, Rob has been eating peppers every day in order to prepare his pallet for the event. He felt pretty confident going into the challenge and we were all excited to cheer him on. The first thing I asked Rob was what else he had eaten that day. “A four cheese tomato panini with tomato soup at Breugger’s. Before coming here, I had 2 doses of pepto and a tums.”
The first set of 5 hand rolls. Rob preparing for #2. On the roll #4, Rob said that the heat was about the same as a jalapeno. At #5, he said he felt the quantity more than the heat and that on a scale of 1-10, he was at about 2. I was a little skeptical. So was Brett.About 20 minutes later, Rob was ready to sign the waiver to attempt the second set of rolls. Just how hot are the final rolls? Roll #8 is filled with a whole habanero pepper! Roll #9 is filled with a green dragon chili pepper. #10 is filled with a red chili and a spicy sauce.About roll #8, Rob said, “I have tasted things this hot before.” He was not afraid of #9. And finally, he was down to the last roll. Trey had the nerve to toss a piece of wasabi on his plate, telling him to eat it with the roll! After #9, Rob said, “My ear hurts a lot.”The very last bite!Challenge: complete! Rob was awarded the warrior headband! He was also rewarded with a picture of his face on the wall, a $25 gift certificate, and free appetizers or sake on every visit…if wearing the headband.And after all that, he ate the piece of wasabi! Now Brett was just like, “wtf, really?”And Matt just got hungry and started thinking I was an Xtuna roll. The face of a legend, whose final request was, “Can someone text my mom?” Ha!
Would you attempt the spicy tuna hand roll challenge?