TWIN FALLS, Idaho — Being able to travel around the country and try all kinds of food is the life many people want.
For Raina Huang a competitive eater and YouTuber, she gets to do just that.
“I guess I found a niche," said Raina. "Because you don't really see another female Asian American eater going around eating all this food. So, it’s just really fun.”
Raina has managed to travel to 30 states across the U.S., conquering food challenge after food challenge as she travels.
Her most recent stop brought her to Second South Market in Twin Falls.
“I really want to get a food challenge win in every state. So I'm like, why not just go somewhere different and I love it so far. It’s beautiful, the scenery is amazing, and it’s very clean.”
Her challenge for the day was to try and eat several pounds of crepes within the span of an hour.
“I never thought it was going to be easy," said Raina. "When I saw it was going to be crepes I’m like, 'Yeah, this is going to be somewhat difficult.' Then when I opened all those crepes up, I'm like,' Oh man, they're loaded with berries.' That's when I was like, yeah, 'I don't think I can get through all these berries.'”
Raina, unfortunately, did not manage to eat the whole plate, but she still managed to eat more than most.
“I guess I would say I ate 10 loaded ones. It kind of balances out to that amount. So that’s still a lot, that’s still like 6 pounds of crepes," said Raina.
Being in Raina's line of work has plenty of benefits, but being a YouTuber, providing content, and meeting her fans is the biggest thrill.
“Sometimes I go to some small cities, and I’m like, 'Why do I have fans here? I’ve never heard of this city before.' But it’s just so great to meet these people and see how supportive they are and that's honestly what keeps me really going.”
There are still some tough parts of the job. Raina drives herself to the locations she goes to, making for some exhausting travel time.
"I choose to drive because I like to visit the scenery and stuff, but I've gone as far as 24 hours straight driving."
Raina wasn't the only one excited to be at Second South Market; Full Steam Espresso owners Matthew and Summer Brander were also appreciative of Raina drawing some more publicity to the new location in Twin Falls.
“First of all, we’re just completely humbled and completely honored that she would come all the way to Twin Falls, to Full Steam Second South Market,” said Summer.
Summer and Matthew are inviting anyone else who wants to take on what is being called the "Oh Crepe!" challenge to Second South Market.
“If there’s anybody who can eat six pounds of food we’re all for it,” said Summer.
Raina will be heading to Boise on Tuesday, April 13 for another food challenge at Westside Drive-In at 6 p.m. Raina also hopes to go on an East Coast trip in the summer to try out some other unique food challenges.
